Chaos Spirit
by Windsurf
Summary: The Hedgehog Clan always gets together to celebrate Christmas - but they're not the only Hedgehogs out there.  Shadow Hedgehog, watch out for unruly triplets, princes and princesses, knuckleheads, and...wait, what? SHADOW? Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!
1. Chapter 1

**What's this? Yet ANOTHER started story? You bet! Well, I did mention that I was going to post one near Christmas to get rid of my stupid Writer's Block and a few of my Threatening Plot Bunnies…**

**Anyway, y'all have StarVix to partially thank for this gem :) Her fabulous story "A Hedgehog Thanksgiving" inspired the idea!**

**Disclaimer: It's in the summary. I WILL NOT say it again. I've got better things to do with my life than REPEAT MYSELF. I have got to make better use of that Ctrl+C feature, don't I? ;)**

"Yeah, Mom, I'll be there," Sonic the Hedgehog said over the phone, his shoe-clad feet propped up on the arm of the couch he was reclining on. "Should I bring anything or…?"

"_Just what you always do, dear,"_ his mother declined cheerfully.

A full-fledged grin spread across Sonic's features. "Of course. But nothing else?"

"_Oh, no, remember the last time you brought us a 'treat?'"_

Sonic could hear the gentle teasing behind the remark, but didn't mind it at all, instead responding with mock indignation. "Hey, I've gotten way better! That last cake I made didn't even make anyone sick!"

"_Well, your stomachs had to have developed an immunity at some point."_

"Nuh-uh!" Sonic denied, wagging a finger even though she couldn't see him (she was in an entirely different hemisphere of the planet, after all). "Tons of people who had never tasted my wonderful baking before had some! I even got Shadow to try it!"

"_Well in that case, how much help did Tails give you?" _his mother asked, a knowing smile in her voice.

Evil woman. "Er…" But she did have a point.

"_And that reminds me, Tails is coming, too, right?"_

"Well…" Sonic began thoughtfully. "Not sure, he might spend Christmas with Cream and her family this year…"

"I'M COMING!" Tails's voice thundered from another room.

Sonic laughed. "Never mind. He's coming."

"_Yes, I heard,"_ Aleena's amused voice said. _"And there's one other person I want to see come…You mentioned him earlier: Shadow."_

"Shadow the Hedgehog?" Sonic asked, surprise laced through his voice. "You want me to invite _Shadow the Hedgehog?_"

"_Oh, sweetie, I know he's your archrival, but he has our name!" _his mom beamed cheerfully over the phone. _"He should celebrate with us!"_

"Well…" Sonic hesitated.

"_Do I need to bring out Mother's Demand?"_ A deceptively sweet voice.

Sonic shivered as the stern undertone that had appeared. "No, no," he assured her. "I don't have a problem asking. I just don't think he'll take me up on it, that's all." _He might even give me a Christmas gift this year when I ask_, Sonic thought wryly, _- if a Chaos Spear through the foot counts._

"_Then I will use Mother's Demand. Tell him THAT."_

"Somehow, I doubt that'll mean the same thing to him that it means to us," Sonic pointed out.

"_Then you'll just have to explain it to him,"_ she said briskly.

"I'll do my best," Sonic promised. "See you soon, Mom."

"_You, too, honey. Take care, and try not to injure yourself."_

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I won't…I know…I _know_, don't worry, Mom…" A soft smile graced his features. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Mom. Tell everyone we love them, and we'll be there. Alright, bye."

He hung up the landline and sank back into the plush seat with a sigh. "Now how am I going to do this?" he murmured.

"What did she want?" Tails asked as he came into the room, leaning over the sofa to gaze down at his frustrated foster brother.

"She wants me to invite Shadow," Sonic mumbled.

"Shadow?" Two large, pointed ears stuck straight up as their owner wondered if they were working properly. "_Seriously?_!"

"Yeah, seriously," Sonic grumped.

"But…he…heh…"

"He's not so bad, Tails," Sonic said to the kitsune. "And he could use some quality time with the Hedgehog Household." Here he wiggled his eyebrows in a silly manner, making it clear that Tails the Fox and Yours Truly were included in said Household.

"True," Tails acknowledged as he brought to mind memories of the Christmas get-togethers Sonic's family had each year. They were some of the happiest memories in his life. "But…I honestly cannot see Shadow of all people showing up and getting along with everyone."

"We are just a tad bit…rambunctious, aren't we?" Sonic grinned as he too recalled the fond times.

"Since when did you get a dictionary?" Tails asked playfully. He quickly returned to seriousness, though. "But do you think you can pull the Begging Puppy trick? You managed to wriggle out of bringing Amy by using that."

Sonic grimaced at that memory. Oh, yes, once his parents had caught a drift of the fact that Amy was his "girlfriend," they had insisted that she come. It took many arguments over the phone, written letters insisting she was just a friend, NOT someone he took a romantic interest in, and a personal visit to them explaining that she was a rabid female fan to get them to revoke their announcement. And even then it had been close, the Begging Puppy look being the thing that definitively tipped the scale in his favor. But even that was ineffective against…

"No go, li'l bro," Sonic shook his head. "She pulled off a Mother's Demand on me."

Tails raised his eyebrows. "Somehow I doubt that will mean the same thing to him as it does to us."

"That's what I said, but she told me to make him understand it. And besides, she did make sense." Sonic sighed again.

"Oh?"

"Same last name. Thus, he belongs in the Hedgehog Household."

"Ah." Tails considered for a moment before standing up. "Well, good luck." He rushed out of the room.

"Hey hey hey! Seriously, man, way past uncool!" Sonic shouted, aggravated by his best friend's refusal to help him figure out _how_, exactly, he was going to invite the moody, black hedgehog. "Well, I guess best thing to do would be to wing it like I always do. Heh."

And with the usual wishful thinking, Sonic T. Hedgehog disappeared into the snowy distance.

Shadow T. Hedgehog was having a very average day. It generally went something like this: get up. Report to GUN. Hang around, bored, until they found a mission for him. Complete the mission. Repeat. He was currently in the third stage, hanging around waiting for them to give him a mission. Sometimes this stage could last for weeks, so he had decided to sit on a park bench with his communicator on and a scarf wrapped around his neck. At Rouge's insistence, of course, because he was the Ultimate Lifeform. He didn't need some piddly little piece of fabric to stay warm.

Red eyes flicked up and glanced around through the falling snow. He wasn't sure why he liked to come to this particular spot. It always seemed torturous, seeing so many people pass by, but not the one who was the most important of all. A few children ran past, hurling snowballs at each other. One landed close to Shadow's hoverskate.

In the opposite direction, a happy couple walked past, hand in hand and arms swinging in a rhythm, smiles on their faces. It was amazing how spirits seemed to lift at this time of year; Shadow just couldn't make sense of it. It wasn't that he didn't understand Christmas; his family, the Robotniks, had taught him all there was to know about it and celebrated it with him each year.

And now he engaged in the holiday's traditions with his teammates, Rouge and Omega. He went shopping, found and wrapped their presents, and stuck them under the decorated tree. Showed up on Christmas Day and wished them a Merry Christmas.

But even when Maria had been alive, Shadow had never experienced the happy feeling that Rouge seemed to always hold on that day. And when he asked about what was making Rouge so happy, she always just answered with a question of her own: 'why the sour face, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform? Scared to have some fun?' It just wasn't her way to openly explain her feelings to others, and she wasn't about to change. He understood that, because he never answered her questions, either.

Omega was a robot, so he wouldn't understand. Anyone else Shadow knew at least to some degree would probably mock him or laugh in his face (a certain blue speedster came to mind here) and he was not asking a complete stranger.

Shadow silently continued to observe the happy humans walking across his field of vision in the snow, letting his thoughts chase each other in circles the way they often did. He never seemed to have any answers, did he…

"Hey, Shadow," a voice said from beside him.

Surprised, the black and red hedgehog jerked alert, snapping his head around to give the blue hedgehog sitting beside him an emotionless glare. Sonic had arrived so fast Shadow hadn't even seen him sit down. "Hmph," he said noncommittally. His muscles tensed slightly in the presence of his ever-annoying rival, although right now, Sonic seemed more nervous than challenging…

He waited for Sonic to do (or more likely say; he was a chatterbox) something. Whenever Sonic approached him, he always had a cocky smirk on his lips and was "revving up" his feet, or threw a childish insult at Shadow in an effort to goad him into some contest or other. And then he always, _always,_ ALWAYS kept up with him. He didn't win, Shadow was relieved to say. But he always felt his pride shrivel and his frustration grow when the Blue Blur kept pace with him. He couldn't turn his head without coming face to face with the faker's challenging grin or gritted teeth as he tried to outdo him.

Except now, Sonic wore neither. His eyes were flicking off to the side, and he kept twitching. And he stayed silent. "What do you want, blue hedgehog?" Shadow finally asked in his usual deep, gruff voice.

"Er…" Sonic looked down at his feet.

Oh, Shadow could guess. "No." He turned his head away.

"What?" Was it his imagination that his rival's voice had a trace of alarm?

"No, I will not race with you," Shadow stated clearly. Maybe he didn't get cold, but he didn't enjoy the cold. Or the ice that came along with it.

"Oh, heh heh…" Sonic laughed weakly. "Phew, that's a relief."

Now Shadow was looking at him again, and even if Sonic couldn't see it, he was genuinely puzzled, even a little curious at this entirely new attitude of the cocky blue hero.

"I don't want to race, Shads." His rival's voice turned into a mumble.

Shadow merely raised one eyeridge. "If you don't want to race, faker, then what do you want?"

"I, uh hnn…My mom called and, uh, she – " Sonic took a deep breath and finally locked onto Shadow's face, staring his hostile archrival straight in the eye. "She wants you to join us for our Christmas celebration. This year."

There was another long silence wherein Shadow felt as though he had just had a bucket of ice cold water dumped on his head and it was seeping deeper into his fur with every passing moment.

"…Excuse me?"

"Well." Sonic looked down again at his knees. "She just called, you know, asking if Tails and me would be there this year, and then she told me that she wanted me to invite you since we have the same last name and everything and-"

"Your mother," Shadow cut Sonic off. "Your mother…called you…and asked you…to invite me…to your family's Christmas party."

With the tough part (breaching the subject with his unfriendly counterpart) done, Sonic regained his mental footing and slipped into the familiar persiflage he and Shadow always threw at each other. Granted, it was usually to insult the other, but… "Define 'invite,' exactly," he commented dryly.

"What?"

"Try something more like 'threaten.' She said that she would use her 'Mother's Demand' if you said no." Here Sonic grimaced and flinched at the same time. "You don't want to see her Mother's Demand."

Shadow remained silent, his mind more occupied with other things. Namely, this unwarranted invitation.

"No."

Or rather, the headache of refusing it. He knew from experience that Sonic was more stubborn than a mule. In fact, he could probably replace the mule's role in that old proverb.

"Come on, Shadow, please?" Sonic nearly pleaded with his former enemy.

"Give me one good reason why I should come," Shadow said coolly, knowing he had won. "Why should I join my archrival's family for their Christmas party instead of celebrating with my own teammates?"

"If you can call that celebrating," Sonic snorted. Shadow shot him another glare, but the blue hedgehog remained firm. "I hate to break it to you, Shads, but there is a whole lot more to Christmas than just giving and getting presents and saying 'Merry Christmas.'" When he didn't get a reply, Sonic cast a thoughtful side glance at Shadow and continued, bringing up the one thing, the one topic that could further shock Shadow at this point.

"You've never actually gotten that, have you?" he mused. Shadow's quills rose at the unwanted analysis. "You've never…actually…experienced Christmas, have you?"

"Of course I have!" Shadow snapped hotly. "Mari…" The name died on his lips, but he continued, rushing through his words. "Maria and the Professor explained it all to me!"

"Yeah, but you've never actually felt it, have you?" Sonic pointed out, navigating into less treacherous waters. Although that wasn't really saying much because the Ultimate Lifeform was still glaring daggers at him. "There's like…this warm glow…I dunno, I can't explain it that well…but you've never…never…" He seemed at a genuine loss of words.

And that probably was better for his health, because another word and Shadow might have succumbed to the temptation of tossing a Chaos Spear at his annoying rival. Why he hadn't already he didn't know.

No, he did know. Sonic might give him the answer to the question that had plagued his mind every Christmas, the one he had been pondering just before the faker showed up. And what Shadow wouldn't give for an actual answer to his questions for once instead of some piece of evidence or logic that just sent him running off into deeper circles…

"You've noticed it, haven't you?" Sonic asked, continuing to observe his rival, and Shadow suddenly felt naked beneath those idly questioning green eyes. "You've seen how everyone's happy…"

Sonic was pushing it, however. Shadow snarled at him, and Sonic finally backed off.

"But I'm getting mushy and gooey here, and that's not my style. But still…" The blue hedgehog tilted his head. "Do you want us to show you why?"

Shadow stared at him, internally cursing at himself. A million reasons. There were a million reasons out there for Sonic to pick from; he had even mentioned some of them earlier, his mother's threat, their similar last names…

…and he had to go and pick the one reason out of that million that actually compelled Shadow to say,

"Hmph. Fine."


	2. Chapter 2

**Yeah, so, this chapter is kind of just filler. Tells you how they planned it and how they got to Sonic's home; not very exciting at all. But it picks up later! It picks up later… ;)**

**Thanks to everyone who's read so far and to my two reviewers:**

** jakeroo123 – Well, I've always kind of seen some puppy love between Tails and Cream, and they seem to match each other fairly well. But the statement was really more of a joke on Sonic's part since he knows about the crush (of whatever magnitude the reader wants to make it) Tails has on Cream. And as for your second comment, well, define 'weird'…**

**Storm337 – Heh heh, well, for once, I am actually updating SOON! And about your prediction…eh…no, not really? This story is more oriented around friends and family, without much action and adventure and fights. Although there is this certain family friend…mmhmm…mmm…good ideas…good ideas coming…I'll see what I can do about Shadow's inhibitor rings ;)**

**Chapter 2: Location**

Shadow chuckled silently at Sonic's comically shocked face before becoming annoyed at his counterpart's ridiculous reaction:

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" Sonic was hopping up and down in the snow, shouting and punctuating each word with a repetitive fist pump.

"I can still change my mind and say 'no,' you know," Shadow said, not bothering to raise his voice as he continued to glare at his counterpart.

Sonic immediately deflated at Shadow's remark before walking back to the bench and resuming his seat.

"Alright," the hero said, fragments of his cheerful mood returning as he talked. "It's a week-long celebration. We leave four days before Christmas, December 21st, and then get back the day after Christmas. Come to my and Tails's house in Mystic Ruins at, say, eight o'clock in the morning, and we'll head off then. Got it?"

Shadow's eyeridges were furrowed. "You didn't tell me this thing would last for five days."

Sonic shrugged. "Eh, when you haven't talked with your family in a year, they fly by."

"Do I have to come for the whole celebration?" Shadow asked, not looking forward to spending so much time with the crazy faker and his potentially crazier relatives.

"Yep," Sonic nodded, smiling. "Why? Can't handle it…?" he taunted.

Shadow hmphed and turned away. "GUN may have an issue with the length."

"Then tell them to hush up, it's family business," Sonic advised sagely. Shadow twisted his head to look at him, red eyes just slightly wider than usual at the suggestion, but Sonic noticed anyway, even if he did misinterpret the meaning behind it. "What? If they let Rouge take week-long vacations for her personal treasure hunting fetish, then they've gotta give you a week off for this."

As it was, GUN did give Shadow the week off, the Commander not even asking after Shadow's reason for doing so.

Although he did seem to smile when Shadow informed him that he would be gone for the week, but that could have been a trick of the light that illuminated the Commander's face.

And Rouge and Omega weren't much better. All he had said was that he was spending Christmas with the faker (he'd be darned if he told them why), and suddenly the two of them started treating him like he was their little boy being sent off to his first day of school. Rouge was constantly puttering around him, pausing in her decorating to shower him with helpful hints on how to pack and how to behave (i.e. 'Try not to lose your temper and throw a Chaos Blast, okay, hon?') until he was on the verge of ripping his fur out. Omega was, if possible, even WORSE because he kept on repeating what Rouge told him and explaining how Shadow, an organic creature whose life was centered around the social unit, should enjoy himself at his friendly rival's party, where the customary pleasantries of the holiday that organics loved so much would ensue.

So December 21st found Shadow the Hedgehog wide awake with his suitcase in his hand and his Chaos Emerald out. He had left his gifts to his teammates under their usual tree and a letter on the table addressed to them so that he wouldn't have to go through their _mothering_ one more time.

He stared thoughtfully down at the blue Emerald. It was early, about five in the morning since he wanted to get out of there before his teammates woke up, but undoubtedly too early to arrive at Sonic's house.

On the other hand, the forest around Sonic's house was empty…

A soft whisper of "Chaos Control" haunted the room, and with a flash of white light, the dark hedgehog disappeared.

He reappeared right beside the adopted-brothers' house and immediately headed into the foliage surrounding it, deciding to wait just within earshot where he would hear if they stepped outside.

A loud crash resounded around him, followed by a number of groggy words and cries for help.

Or if they were having troubles packing. Late, as usual. Shadow shook his head.

Once the sun had risen, Shadow decided it was time for him to enter the scene. Especially as he saw Sonic carrying a heavy-looking gadget to a little pile of other…stuff Tails had built that sat in the middle of the road right in front of their house.

Oh, no, that wasn't because of any helpful intentions, however.

"SHADOW!" Sonic shrieked, jumping about two feet into the air and nearly losing his grip and falling under the weight of his cargo when his rival Chaos Controlled to stand behind him.

"Sonic," Shadow acknowledged, hard-pressed to keep the smirk off his lips.

"Ack…dangit," Sonic muttered under his breath as he desperately tried to hold onto the slipping object before throwing it at Shadow. "Here, dump this with all the other stuff." In a flash of blue, he leaned through the doorway to the house, head buried inside. "Hey, Tails! Don't we have enough stuff?"

"One sec, Sonic," came the voice of the straining fox as he haphazardly walked up the steps from his laboratory carrying yet another…item. Shadow half-dropped the one he had been holding off to the side, a little roughly, but still without letting it break or anything.

"Manic wanted to check this out," the two-tailed fox explained as he continued to carry the heavy thing until Sonic relieved him of it and huffed over to Shadow.

He turned towards his adoptive little brother. "Please tell me this is it," he mock-pleaded, hands held in front of him in a praying gesture.

Tails swatted him playfully. "Oh, hush."

"Ah!" Sonic announced, now beginning to ham it up. "The cruelty you subject me to!"

"Hedgehog," Shadow interrupted, his annoyed tone conveying his meaning.

"Right," Sonic said, dropping the act and regaining his cheerful attitude. "So, everybody got everything?" He shot a look at Tails. "Although I wonder why I ask. Sheesh, is there anything left in your workshop?"

"Eh heh," Tails chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

"What about you, hedgehog?" Shadow asked, raising an eyeridge at Sonic's lack of suitcases.

"Oh, Mom just told me to bring the usual," Sonic brushed off. "Which is just, you know, this." He gestured to himself before striking a pose that made Tails good-naturedly roll his eyes and Shadow take his usual irritated stance before he noticed the small, guitar-shaped medallion hanging from Sonic's neck by a red string. Had he missed anything else…?

"And you." Shadow directed his scrutiny towards Tails, who flinched when he was addressed. "I don't see you with a suitcase either."

"Oh, well, Mom told us not to bring any extra gloves or anything," Tails informed him, stuttering a little. "She keeps an extra stash for us both for whenever we visit."

"Which is always just around the holidays," Sonic jutted in, "but hey, if it floats her boat." Here he shrugged. "And who knows, maybe we will get the chance to go there some other time, right, buddy?" he asked, nudging his fox friend.

Shadow simply looked at them, glad he had a mask to cover his surprise. "I see," he said finally, feeling like the odd one out for doing the usual thing people did when taking a vacation. Although if he had had his choice, he wouldn't have packed so many extra clothes.

In short, he was never listening to Rouge's advice again. Especially if it had anything to do with a certain wild blue hedgehog.

Then Shadow himself shrugged just as Sonic had. "It's probably a good thing for you two anyway. You have enough to carry as is, and I am not helping." He nearly growled the last part, making sure he was clear.

The duo in front of him shared a look. "Uh…Shads? We're not carrying anything," Sonic began, pulling the white Chaos Emerald out of his quills.

"…Just how far away is your home?" Shadow asked in a tone with the temperature of frozen carbon dioxide. When he didn't get an answer, he really did growl. "Sonic, where is your home that you have to _Chaos Control to get to_?"

"Chillax, Shads," Sonic hurried to assuage him. "It's just on the other side of Mobius, it's not like it's in another dimension or anything." Seeing Shadow's discontented expression, he added, "And I'm sure you have your own Chaos Emerald, so if you need to come back, then you can just use that."

Tails shuffled nervously as a Battle of Staring ensued until Shadow, still giving Sonic a warning look, said, "Fine."

Sonic blinked, a smile quickly spreading across his face. "Alright! Okay, guys, hold onto me!" He stepped into the middle of the pile of junk (in Shadow's opinion), and beckoned them in. "Everyone cool?" He received a smile, a glare, and two nods.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

A third flash of bright white, and the trio and their heap were gone, leaving behind an empty road and dormant house that wouldn't see anyone for a week.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey again! And another rapid update after some responses to some nice reviewers:**

**jakeroo123 – Ah. Well, no. Weird and whacked things will NOT be happening to Sonic this time; it's all going to happen to Shadow. I'd say more, but then I'd be giving stuff away. ;) A hint? It's all in perspective. And some info? The weirdest has yet to come for him!**

**snoe mahns cumn 4 u – Ditto; they're some of my favorite parts to write. Unfortunately, Shadow doesn't really 'meet' them, like get to know them, actually CONVERSE for once, until chapter 5, so sorry, but you're going to have to wait a little longer. And yep, this has Uncle Chuck and Jules and Bernadette AND Aleena. Nice perception on the 'both' :). Basically, this is a mix-and-mash of SUnderground, Archie, SatAM, the games, and am I missing anything? I pretty much stuffed every single family member he had in the same room -.-'**

**And now, for our feature presentation:**

**Chapter 3: **

Shadow shook his head lightly to get rid of the spots in his vision and slight dizziness from the teleportation.

And then he shook it again to make sure his eyes were telling him the truth.

Sonic laughed beside him, scooping up a squealing Tails and swinging him around before resting the kit on his shoulders and speeding off. "Come on, Shads!"

With a slight scowl at both the nickname and his situation, the black hedgehog delicately extricated himself from the tangled mess of machinery at his feet, taking his time in a rebellious show saying he didn't have to follow faker.

Although he'd be lost if he didn't. He had no idea of the layout around here, making "explore premise" a high priority on his list, something he would probably do that night when everyone was asleep.

But for now, he had to catch up with the speed demon. Figuring that he could leave his things with Tails's, he dropped his suitcase and sped off.

Sonic led him through the huge building at a fast pace, apparently intent on getting wherever they were going as fast as possible without getting his face smashed in by a huge pillar or clipping any of the corners. This gave Shadow the time to observe the high ceilings and delicately carved doorframes and feel as though he had been shoved into an oriental setting. It wasn't exact, but it did look very similar to the pictures he had seen back on the ARK of East Asian architecture, when he had still been attending the Professor's lessons.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when the hedgehog in front of him gave a whoop. "Keep up, Shads!" he taunted, and Shadow grit his teeth, wondering how on Mobius he had been convinced to spend Christmas with the faker until the hedgehog ran up a pillar.

Ran up a pillar. Shadow stared, wide-eyed, as Sonic used the pillar to hop onto the next floor up and then continue his dash, and a laughing Sonic caught his expression.

"Stairs are over there if you need them!" he pointed out gaily, not pausing in the slightest, maybe even pouring on the speed a bit more when a snarl graced his rival's features and two hover-skated feet struck out, following the same path.

He did not, however, continue to do the unnecessary wall-jumping and rail-grinding (partly because if his hoverskates went down the rails, the wood would probably be demolished and he'd get splinters all over and inside his shoes) that his rival did.

"Hey Shads!" said rival suddenly called out from his ball form. Tails hovered in the air, tails twirling furiously, although that also seemed to be out of excitement rather than necessity. "You pro'lly want to start wall-jumping!" He bounced off the sides of the hexagonal space.

"And why would that be, faker?" Shadow responded, crossing his arms. "Just because you are excited enough to bounce off the walls does not mean I will."

"'Cause we're taking the Sonic Express Waaaay!" Sonic called back, shooting upwards. Tails sent Shadow a timid smile before following.

Shadow sighed through his nose, almost making it a huff, before skating around in a circle. He was not going to bounce around like his counterpart, instead opting for a more dignified entrance as he skated up to the level where Sonic was not-so-patiently waiting.

Although granted, if he hadn't been able to get a little boost at the end from his Chaos-powered shoes, he probably wouldn't have quite made it.

"Cool! Come on!" Sonic shouted again, and led Shadow off on a wild run again until he skidded to a stop right in front of two huge doors so quickly that Shadow almost ran into him.

"Alright," Sonic said, turning around, and Shadow felt his spines rise a little in unease, especially at the note of mischievous in Sonic's voice. "We ready?"

"Like always," Tails grinned, prancing in place in anticipation and giving his older brother a thumbs-up.

"Shadow, when we open the door, the two of us are going to shout 'Merry Christmas' at the top of our lungs," Sonic told him with a conspiratorial air that made Shadow almost, almost, raise his eyeridges. "If you don't want to do it with us-"

"-Which I don't," Shadow interjected.

"-then I would suggest waiting behind us until after Mom has hugged the stuffing out of us and drowned us in kisses for me to introduce you."

Shadow nodded in assent, and Sonic nodded back and held a finger to his muzzle, signaling that he wanted silence before the attack. Tails nodded furiously, clapping a hand over his mouth to cover his giggles.

Which in itself was interesting. Shadow had always thought of Tails as mature, or at least more mature than the older of the two brothers, but here the little fox was, giggling like a nine-year-old and for once acting like the kit he was supposed to be. Not to mention doing it while standing right beside Shadow. The dark hedgehog knew that people tended to flinch when they were near him (being the Ultimate Lifeform had its perks, after all), and that Tails took this tendency to the extreme, but now he was completely ignoring him, his attention focused on the bright blue hedgehog who was counting down on his fingers…

_Three…_he mouthed, _two…one…_

The giant doors flew open with a bang and a shout.

"**MERRY CHRISTMAS!"** the duo roared into the room before immediately launching themselves forward at the stately purple hedgehog sitting in the back of the room.

Laughter. Shadow stood shifting slightly awkwardly in the gigantic doorway, half-hidden behind one of the barely-opened doors, as Sonic, Tails, and the other hedgehogs in the room (although he supposed he should call them Hedgehogs now) laughed and hugged without abandon, hopping up and down and shouting greetings at each other until the group looked like one particularly loud ball of bouncing fluffy fur and deadly quills.

After about five minutes of the wild cacophony – it was the best word Shadow could find to describe it – Sonic's voice suddenly cut through the joyous noise.

"Hey, guys, Shadow came this year!"

In an instant, Sonic had raced up to appear beside his dark rival and pulled him abruptly into the grand room.

"Shads, this is the Hedgehog Clan," Sonic announced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shadow Hedgehog," the purple female hedgehog said, walking forward and regaining her original stateliness and grace.

Not one for pleasantries and idle conversation, Shadow simply inclined his head and shook the offered hand. It was bare and smooth, soft like an aristocrat's, but firm. He could see in the way she carried herself that she was used to being a leader, and he found himself liking her quiet and gentle, approachable manner. She didn't seem like the type of person to stick her nose in your business, but at the same time would extend a hand if asked, very different from Sonic, who would charge in regardless of whether or not he had permission. The attitudes were so different Shadow couldn't help but wonder how strong (or really how weak) her connection to Sonic was…

When she saw that true to her son's stories, he wouldn't say much, Queen Aleena continued, "I am Aleena, Sonic and Tails' mom."

Oh…never mind.

The next one to step forward was a light blue female hedgehog, slightly younger than Aleena. "Call me Bernadette. I'm Sonic's mommy," she said, giving her foster son an amused glance.

Shadow raised an eyeridge, partially at the hedgehog in front of him and partly at his rival.

"Heh heh," Sonic chuckled, his hand in the nervous position usually seen only on Tails. "I'll explain once all the introductions are done."

"Oh, I'm sure I could explain it just as well right now, dear," Bernadette told him. Shadow couldn't be sure if he was just imagining the mischievous glint in her eye…

"Well…" Suddenly Sonic twisted around, searching for something to use as an excuse. "Hey, where are Manic and Sonia? Shouldn't they be here?"

"Oh, they went for…something…out in the city," Aleena dismissed. "They'll be here soon."

"We can't explain it without them!" Sonic cried.

Bernadette grudgingly agreed. "I suppose that's true. Sorry, Shadow, but you'll just have to wait a while."

"I'm patient," Shadow replied with yet another glance at Sonic. He was pleasantly surprised to hear everyone in the room chuckle at his light jab towards his rival and watch Sonic mock-pout and cross his arms in a huff.

"Gang up on me, why don'tcha," he mumbled.

"If that's what you want," the male blue hedgehog standing beside Bernadette said agreeably, and opened his mouth to continue.

"NO!"

He laughed and then held out his hand towards Shadow. "Jules Hedgehog, little Sonic's 'daddy,'" he introduced himself with a twinkle in his eye. "Nice to meet someone who'll keep him humble." A wink.

"Daaaddyyyy!" Sonic whined while everyone else chuckled at his expense once again.

Shadow wasn't sure how to respond, so he only allowed his scowl to relax a little as he shook hands with the grinning, older male, thinking that maybe Sonic's family wouldn't be too bad. He had expected Sonic to be the Golden Boy at home the same way he was on the other side of the planet, but this assumption didn't seem to be true in the least and suddenly the entire vacation seemed a whole lot more bearable.

"You'll meet everyone else later, when they show up," Aleena told him. "But for now, Sonic, will you show Shadow to his room?"

"Sure," Sonic agreed amicably. "Anything to get out of this personal torture pit." Here he dramatically dragged a hand across his forehead in suffering.

"Hambone," Bernadette called fondly.

Sonic just laughed in return. "See ya later, Tails."

The little fox nodded, and then jumped up and down in front of Bernadette and Aleena, babbling excitedly as Sonic pulled Shadow out of the room.

Once outside, Shadow yanked his hand away. "My suitcase…?" he reminded him.

"Oh, right." Sonic even had the grace to look embarrassed. "Be back in a Sonic Second."

The unfriendly, but not hostile, duo walked down the corridors in silence, to all appearances two brothers in comfortable companionship even though that couldn't be further from the truth. Sonic was in fact quite unnerved to be standing right beside his expressionless archrival, muscles tense since he couldn't tell what Shadow was thinking about or possibly planning. Shadow himself was ignoring his blue companion and observing the endless maze the Hedgehog family called its home. Why they needed so many rooms he didn't know, but they had to have considerable wealth to be able to afford a place like this. In short, it was very different from Sonic and Tails' regular abode/workshop in Mystic Ruins.

"How big is your family?" he asked as they passed an indoor patio with a small greenhouse garden.

Sonic started, glancing with wide eyes towards Shadow the Conversation-Starter before returning to his usual relaxed pose. "Big, but not huge. I mean, there are the four of us, the kids, and then the four adults. I suspect it's gonna grow soon, though," Sonic added smugly. "Sonia's heading towards that marriage day," he answered to Shadow's questioning glance. "In fact…"

Oh, Shadow did not like the devious grin spreading across his rival's face.

"You'll recognize one of her suitors. He's come every Christmas for the past three years, and I think Sonia's leaning toward him. Interesting couple, but so much better than that other guy." Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Do these people have names?" Shadow asked acerbically. He did not appreciate Sonic's ambiguity.

Sonic poked his nose down a long hall and then continued down it. "Eh, you'll meet 'em soon. Didn't you say you were patient?"

"More patient than you, Hedgehog," Shadow returned.

"Oh, you'll fit right in," Sonic commented dryly. "You will. Anyway, here's your room." He took a key out and unlocked it, waving towards the space with an arm.

Shadow stared. Downright stared.

"You know it's there for you to use, not just admire."

The familiar glare, although it was numbed somewhat by hidden surprise, was shot at the annoying mischief-maker. Shadow walked into the luxurious suite and set his suitcase on the red velvet sofa before abruptly turning towards Sonic.

"Alright, blue hedgehog," Shadow nearly snarled and Sonic stared at him, confused at his rival's tone. "I think that under the circumstances I have been more than patient" – he stressed that word – "and cooperative and that it's high time you explained some things."

"Er…okay? What exactly is there to explain?" Sonic asked carefully, sitting down opposite his fuming rival.

Shadow should have expected it. He really should have. Sonic would try to wriggle his way out, but Shadow was angry enough that he was not about to let this go, period. Right now the faker was playing stupid, and while it grated on his already stretched and shocked nerves, Shadow had no problem reminding him of certain recent events in that soft, menacing tone he always used to warn people he was about get physical if something didn't happen. "Faker, I didn't even know you had living family until a little while ago. Then you go and tell me they live on the other side of the planet. And when I get there, I find out they live in something that could pass as a palace." Sonic shuffled uncomfortably at this statement and Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Please tell me it's not…"

Sonic shrugged unapologetically. "Sorry, Shads."

"Just what other secrets are you keeping, Faker?" Shadow said furiously, even taking a step towards the blue hedgehog.

"Whoa, whoa, Shads-"

"Shadow," Shadow corrected him through gritted teeth.

Sonic held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Shadow. I'm sorry, but this just seems mainstream to me. You know, I come here every year, see my family, party, head back. I don't really understand why you're so upset."

Shadow stood up straight. "You think the fact that you live in a palace is mainstream?" he shouted.

Sonic massaged his temples. "Shadow…"

"Don't you 'Shadow' me!" Shadow yelled, pointing a threatening finger at the blue hedgehog. "Explain."

Now Sonic stood up, getting riled up as well. "I would, but I don't know what's so weird for you! So I'm a prince! Big deal! It doesn't seem to have changed your opinion of me at all, so what's it matter? I have foster parents! I also have a foster brother, and you've known it, so why are you surprised? And, what, you thought I didn't have any…any…_biological_ family?"

Shadow shook his head, even when he realized just how ridiculous that sounded. Of course Sonic had a family, even if he had never hinted at it at all. He wasn't an artificially created organic being like he was. And even Shadow had had some semblance of family: his creators had treated him just like a son/brother, and he had come to view them as such. So why wouldn't he think Sonic had any family?

Sonic stared at him, speechless.

"I suppose it was in the back of my head that you had one," Shadow said, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself down some. "But I thought you would keep in touch, or that they would settle close to your home. No one ever did, and you never mentioned any family, so I assumed they were dead."

"Shads, I'm an extensive traveler who regularly stops Eggman's plans for world-domination no matter where the guy is," Sonic said dryly. "People can't exactly 'settle close to my home' and most of the places I go have zero ways to get messages between me and my family."

"Then how did you know about this…?"

"Phone. Tails's phone, actually." Sonic sighed, and an awkward silence reigned as Shadow tried to realign his thoughts and Sonic tried to find something to say. Shadow could feel his anger subsiding, simply disappearing, which was yet another surprise for him today. Usually the emotion transferred into something else, vengeance or determination, acting as fuel. But instead, this anger was evaporating into nothing. But maybe that was because it had already been transformed, originally appearing in the form of shock. Shadow knew he tended to react angrily and/or violently when taken by surprise, not as much as a certain hot-headed echidna since he had a better control over his temper. But still, had his wrathful outburst sprung from shock instead of actual anger…?

"Shads, I'm sorry." Shadow looked up at the other hedgehog, startled by the underlying tone in his voice. He had heard it before, but…

"I guess I should have warned you, but like I said, it all just feels normal to me, 'cause it's how my life is. It never even crossed my mind that you would be surprised. You just seem so…stoic, always taking everything in stride, so I thought this would be no different."

That concern had just never been directed at him before. "Faker, there's a big difference between finding out your archrival and sometimes ally is a prince and the fact that there's a new enemy out to kill you," Shadow informed him.

"Why doesn't the second one ever seem to surprise you?" Sonic inquired, in a far more relaxed position now that both hedgehogs were sitting down and Shadow's threatening stance had all but disappeared.

"It's a part of daily life."

"True that, true that," Sonic agreed. "Well, then, allow me to say that this is part of MY daily life. So can you just…try to keep an open mind around here? I can't think of anything right now, but you probably will find more 'shocking' stuff, and I would appreciate it if you would ask me questions about it instead of just wigging out over it and ranting at me."

So Sonic thought that his furious demand for explanations had originated from shock as well. "I did not 'wig out,' blue hedgehog," Shadow replied, turning away, but refraining from sounding condescending or hostile, his way of saying he would try. "I merely brought it to your attention that you need to warn me of certain things before I get a heart attack." Two to none. Both thought Shadow had spoken out of surprise, not justifiable rage, and if that was so, then Shadow would try to suppress his reactions. But some forewarning would still be nice…

"No promises," Sonic grinned. "But anyway, what are we doing here? I'm supposed to be teaching you about Christmas and fun, not my personal life! Come on, drop the 'case and let's go find my sibs!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me this far!**

**And as usual, a special thanks to reviewers:**

**jakeroo123 – Luigi and Tails supposed to be friends according to who in this world? They're from entirely different universes; did someone do a crossover? Because I thought those mostly only existed in fanfiction.**

**WinterMuffin – Hehe, Merry Christmas to you, too! Yeah, I'm still working on the relationship between Jules, Bernadette, Aleena, and Chuck, but they're all in here.**

**snoe mahns cumn 4 u – Nope, no Scourge. I know pretty much squat about him except he's Sonic's evil incarnation and…he…lives in an alternate universe? Maybe? I don't know. So I didn't include him. Fluffy family moments? Oh, yes! There aren't that many right now, but as he slowly assimilates, there will be a lot more. :) Can't wait to write those! Feel free to keep asking away.**

**Chapter 4: Insert a title here**

"Hey, Mom, did Manic and Sonia tell you where they went? Or when they'd be back?" Sonic asked as he skid to a stop in front of Aleena. Shadow stopped beside him, and the Queen found herself looking down at two hedgehogs who looked similar enough to both be her sons. But they were at the same time completely different; one wore an ever-cheerful smile while the other had an emotionless scowl.

She addressed the cheerful one, although her hands didn't pause as they continued to set up the big red bow on the banister. "No. They merely said that they would be back soon."

Sonic sighed, his entire posture deflating. "Well, okay. Thanks anyway, Mom."

"Of course, my child. Good luck in your search." She gave them both a gentle smile.

"Thanks!" No sooner had she said it and Sonic was running off, tossing her a quick thumbs-up and grin before disappearing down the hallway, a silent Shadow following him easily.

But Shadow was nowhere near navigating with the ease Sonic did – yet. "Do you have a map of this place?"

His misgivings rose monumentally when he saw Sonic's honest look of surprise. "A map? What for?"

_How about the vast number of pathways in this castle you call a home?_ Shadow thought sarcastically. He swore, wherever there was a space, the Hedgehog family had filled it with a room or a hall or even a staircase, making the castle more twisted than the biggest corn maze he could find on Halloween. Not that the size was a problem; the ARK had been over five times the size of this building. But it had been organized, logical. Here, everything was tangled, with hallways intersecting each other at the most random angles and staircases in the strangest places. The rooms were laid out in odd shapes, fitting neatly in the nowhere-near quadrilateral spaces between hallways. The entire place made absolutely no sense to him, but he couldn't help but wryly notice that it seemed to match Sonic's corkscrew logic perfectly.

Either way, it looked like exploring was the only thing on his agenda this night, too. "Never mind."

They continued to run in silence for a while. Well, silence between them anyway. With Sonic calling, "MANIC! SONIA!" down the echoing halls every few minutes, their trip was actually quite loud. Shadow, for his part, merely kept his eyes open for any movement other than the blue blurring at his side.

A short while later, however, Shadow was running out of patience. He did not enjoy running around the nonsensical palace, his ears were ringing from the echoes, and – wait, what was that movement at the end of the hallway?

"UNCLE CHUCK!" came his answer, and with a speed to rival light, Sonic suddenly leapt straight into the hedgehog's arms as though he were still a little hoglet.

"Sonny-boy! You're back!"

And then Shadow reached them, and felt his red eyes flash wide open in complete shock.

How had Sonic forgotten to mention _this?_

"How ya doin', Unc'?" Sonic questioned once he had clambered out of the robot's arms.

"Oh, just fine, Sonny-boy. Been pretty busy with all my projects, but you wouldn't understand a lot of them, would you?" A friendly wink from glowing red eyes was sent right back at him from sparkling green ones as the blue hedgehog nodded his head in agreement.

"Maybe not, but I hear you on the 'busy' part."

"Oh? Just how much trouble did you manage to get into this year, Sonny?" The voice was definitely metallic, coming from inorganic speakers, but the inflection behind it spoke of more emotion than Shadow had ever heard in a robot before. And its movements were fluid, like any organic's, making this one of the most advanced robots Shadow had ever seen.

"Ah ah ah, Unc'," Sonic replied, a sly smile creeping onto his face as he shook his finger at the robotic hedgehog. "I wouldn't want to spoil it for you; you'll hear everything tomorrow."

"Will I have to be patient and wait until tomorrow to find out who this is, too?" came a gentle reminder, and Sonic immediately reached back to pull Shadow forward, a light blush of embarrassment covering his features.

Shadow easily dodged the offending appendage, giving the hedgehog a glare for his troubles before returning an emotionless gaze to the robot and stepping forward, arms still crossed. "I'm Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Shadow, eh?" the robot chuckled, an odd sound to come from metal. "Just call me Chuck. I'm Sonic's uncle."

Shadow made a mental note to ask Sonic how that worked. And maybe hang him over a pond he had spied in one of the garden rooms during said interrogation.

Seeing that Shadow wasn't going to carry on any sort of conversation, Uncle Chuck gave him a friendly pat on the back that made him stiffen, not used to the casual touch, and especially not used to being shown any affection from a robot. Omega came close, but he could never achieve the humanity that this robot seemed to possess. Whoever had created it had been a genius.

In an effort to lighten the mood (of a certain hedgehog), Chuck asked a friendly, small-talk question. "First time swinging by this part of the globe?"

"Yes," Shadow nodded curtly.

Chuck gave up. "Well, I have to get going; projects don't wait forever, no matter what certain people say."

"Mommy try to get you out of your lab again?" Sonic asked with a knowing smile.

"That woman," the robot grumbled, "has no respect for science at all…" His grumbles faded out as he walked away.

"Bye, Uncle Chuck! See ya at dinner!" The hedgehog waved before turning around a corner and out of sight.

"So…" Shadow said, not moving from his position. "'Nothing else comes to mind,' does it, Hedgehog?" he asked, throwing Sonic's words back in his face.

Sonic sent him a quizzical glance. "What?"

Shadow caught himself just in time, beginning to lead the way back the way they had come in search for that nice little unfrozen patio. Until then, he would have to stall. "We are going to have a good, long discussion very, very soon, blue hedgehog."

"What? Come on, Shads, what about? What did I do?" Sonic raced to catch up with his (lost) doppelganger, but Shadow figured that if he kept running, he would come across some body of water eventually, even if it wasn't the same one.

"Just exactly how do you find your way in here?" Shadow asked instead.

Sonic shot him an amused glance. "You think this is confusing? You should see Knuckles' Hidden Palace. There's this one wing, and it's got steps from the floor to the ceiling, just like that famous human painting…I don't remember the name." He shrugged.

Shadow recalled the disorienting image the Professor had talked about once. "How did you walk in that?"

"To this day, I have never figured that out," Sonic huffed, eyeridges drawn together in frustration as he locked his eyes on the corridors ahead of them. "Sal might be able to explain it, but I think even she was more confused than – hey, where'd you go? Shadow?" The blue doppelganger twisted his head around, searching for him. "Shadow!"

For his part, the darker doppelganger had stopped abruptly when two hands covered his vision. His first reaction was to lash his elbow out behind him and flip them over his shoulder, and with his reaction times, it should have been easier than cake, but the person blocked the hit and threw him face-first into the wall with a soft thud, never giving him a chance to see who it was.

Even then, though, Shadow wasn't alarmed. He could easily throw them off – or so he thought. He knew he was stronger than most, courtesy of the Professor's tampering with his DNA, but this attacker was strong, possibly even as strong as Knuckles, and barely gave him any room each time he shoved them.

Then a very quiet feminine voice hissed at him, "Hush! Stop struggling and stay quiet, or, Chaos help me, I will knock you out!"

The moment the grip loosened, Shadow threw the hands off him and whirled around, coming face to face with a slender, well-groomed magenta hedgehog who matched his glare with an impressive one of her own. Her hands were on her hips, and Shadow got a very bossy impression from her pose.

"Who are you?" he asked lowly.

"Hey, sis," another quiet voice said urgently from somewhere above their heads. Shadow tilted his up and saw a green hedgehog with wild, punk-like quills offering the pink one a hand. "Hurry, he's coming back!"

The more dignified of the two quickly leapt up and let him pull her up onto his yellow hoverboard before turning to Shadow. "No time to explain, hop on!"

"Shadow!" a voice yelled from down the hall. "Where are you!"

With raised eyeridges, Shadow made a split-second decision and joined who must have been Sonic's two siblings, Manic and Sonia, skating forward and leaping up to land behind the green hedgehog as he bid the machine to go up.

A flash of blue passed by below them as they floated up to the tops of the pillars. "ShADOooow!" it yelled.

"Well, I'd guess you're Shadow, then," the green hedgehog said, sticking out a hand. "I'm Manic. Nice to hover with you."

Shadow shook it, not returning the friendly smile on Manic's face.

"And I'm Sonia," the pink hedgehog announced, not risking turning around on the tiny craft that was really built for only one person and instead keeping her sharp eyes focused on the ground below. "Manic, explain to him."

"Welcome to Manic's Hoverboarding Pranks," the first one said, bowing only a little so as not to tip over. "Where we are currently planning on giving Sonic a very warm welcome back to his home. Wanna help?"

Shadow raised an eyeridge at the other male, inwardly quailing at how he looked almost exactly like a certain other prankster he knew. No, almost EXACTLY alike. It was uncanny. The only differences between the two were the coloring (Manic was green), the clothes (he wore a red vest, a fanny pack, different sneakers, and had one of his ears double-pierced), and the quill styles (but even then, it was only the head quills that were different with Manic's sticking straight up).

So Shadow really didn't know why he did what he did next. Maybe it was the fact that he was trapped on a tiny hoverboard with nowhere to go, or the fact that he was tired from an already long day of too many surprises and wasn't thinking straight, or even just the fact that it was against his archrival and he would stoop to something so childish, but Shadow said, "I believe he will be in the west side of the building in a few moments."

"Sweet! That's not too far away!" Manic cheered quietly before guiding the trio at a relatively slow pace for Shadow to…wherever he and Sonic had met Chuck.

Sonic scratched his head, perplexed. "I don't get it. He was right in front of me, and then right beside me, and now-!"

"Faker, aren't we looking for your siblings?" Shadow asked in his usual annoyed tone.

Sonic whirled around to face him. "What? Shadow! Wha-wher…wh-"

Shadow could see Sonia and Manic get into position behind their ignorant sibling as he stumbled through his words, predatory grins (or smiles, in Sonia's case) on their lips as they stalked forward, knees bent and arms outstretched, ready for just the right moment to…

Wait, what were they going to do? Jumping on top of him just wasn't good enough.

Shadow could have face-palmed as he watched blank expressions take over the duo's faces.

Think we should…?

Much better.

With these silent messages, both nodded and stood up to their full heights, Sonia assuming the pose Shadow had first seen her in while Manic crossed his arms and started to scowl at the back of his incensed brother, who was now shouting at the top of his lungs.

"-COME COMPLAINING TO ME ABOUT BEING LOST AND I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE AS HAPPY TO SEE ME AS I AM TO SEE YOU SO DROP THE ACT!"

All three would-be pranksters only had time to blink once at the sudden change right before Sonic turned and leapt on top of Manic and Sonia, grabbing them both in a rough hug.

"SONIC HEDGEHOG, YOU ARE-!"

Sonic laughed right in his furious sister's face. "Home for Christmas! WOOO!"

"Nice to see ya, dude," Manic said, grinning as he fist-bumped with his fellow triplet.

"How did you know?" Sonia nearly shrieked, seemingly still unable to let go of the fact that their perfect plan had been ruined (or the peach-furred arm she was hugging). "How did you-"

"Chill, sis," Sonic smirked. "I didn't know – until you changed…something." Here he frowned. "What did you change?"

"Original plan was to jump you, dude," Manic explained, still grinning. "Then we decided giving you the shock of your life by pretending to be angry at you would be better. Triplet sense?"

"Triplet sense," Sonic nodded.

"There is no such thing as a 'triplet sense,' Sonic!" Sonia snapped, put off, but at the same time keeping her arms around her brother in a firm hug.

"Sis, if there wasn't any such thing as a triplet sense, then you and Manic would not have been able to silently change the plan the exact same way," Sonic said with the air of someone who had won and absolutely knew it, too.

"You three are _triplets?_" Shadow demanded, trying not to let his knees buckle.

Sonia must have caught onto the despair in his voice (it sure didn't show on his frozen face, he was sure of that) because she immediately turned on the blue hedgehog and punched him in the arm. "Sonic, just what sort of reputation have you been making for us?"

His sly smile was her only answer before Sonic stepped forward. "Hey, guys, this is Shadow-"

"We know," Manic cut in. "He helped us with the prank."

Sonic's eyeridges hiked up his forehead. "Shadow? Helped you? With a _prank_?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Faker," Shadow smirked, regaining his composure instantly when Sonic, for once, was the one to lose his balance and folding his arms again as he knew that his comment on surprise would mean a bit more to Sonic than to his siblings.

But the blue hedgehog was completely nonchalant. "Pfft," Sonic said, waving them all off. "I need a third quill on my back. The two I have can't take three hedgehogs plotting against me."

"Sorry, dude," Manic interjected, coming to stand beside his brother and wrap an arm around him, "but you're stuck with what you get."

Shadow stood off to the side, watching as the triplets chatted up a storm right there in the corridor in front of him. It was back.

That glow he had seen Rouge wear each Christmas Eve and Day, he saw it in these three, in the happy expressions on their faces. Except their glow was a beacon, making hers look faint. It was particularly strong around the two brothers, who were still in their little half-hug, and when Sonia leaned forward to give them both a gentle shove, Shadow could half-feel, half-see the invisible glow spread to encompass all three in one large halo before they separated again.

It was hard to describe. Invisible, but he could see it. Sonic could see it, too, or else he wouldn't have talked about it with him when he "invited" Shadow (read: forced the dark hedgehog to come, in Shadow's mind). But it wasn't tangible; it was just a feeling that made his eyes strain and make up a mental image to satisfy his brain.

And the mental image was a golden glow that surrounded the triplets, as brightly-colored as the two earrings in Manic's ear or Shadow's own inhibitor rings. The red and green Christmas decorations behind them added nicely to the imaginary coloring, but Shadow realized this was all they were: nice background additions, not the cause of the triplets' glow in the forefront.

Shadow nearly gnashed his teeth. It was infuriating. He could feel it was there, whatever 'it' was, but none of his other senses gave any indication of 'it.' In fact, the mysterious glow was sort of like the energy that surrounded Sonic and Shadow whenever they were in their golden Super forms, surrounding them, since they could feel it, but at the same time, not present in any other sense.

Shadow sighed. His comparison still wasn't exactly the same thing as what was sitting in front of him, surrounding the laughing triplets, but for now, he would just have to settle for the inaccurate description and continue to observe.

**Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hannukah! Merry Kwanzaa? Happy Holidays, everyone :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay; this thing took a while, and the next chapter probably will, too. And all the others. They're planned out, but the plans are just so long! Erg…**

**jakeroo123 – Huh. I know un poco about the games and you know un poco about the SUnderground. Well, I guess that makes us even.**

**WinterMuffin – They…partially know. Sonic told them a little, and he doesn't need to tell them more, but hey, this thing's about family! Who else is he going to talk about other than the Robotniks on the ARK?**

**Thanks to everyone who's still reading :)**

**Chapter 5: Introductions**

At dinner, you usually sit down in a chair and eat.

_Apparently_, Shadow thought as a gloved hand belonging to a blue-and-tan hedgehog pulled him away from his chair, _the Hedgehog Clan doesn't_. Once he had felt the pull, he had looked up with a special scowl just for Sonic, but upon seeing everyone else standing behind their chair, immediately schooled his features back into an expressionless mask that didn't portray his embarrassment. Or the small amount of gratefulness he felt towards his rival for saving him from further humiliation; Sonic had considerately, if roughly, yanked him back at a speed that no one else could register, allowing no one else to know that Shadow had needed guidance and _help_.

Feh. Gratefulness? To his rival? The Ultimate Lifeform brutally perished the thought in his mind. What did it matter, anyway? He could do whatever the heck he wanted.

But he was still very glad that he had not sat down and created an awkward moment where everyone stared at him and waited. Instead, he copied the rest of the dinner attendees and folded his hands in front of the back of his chair and bowed his head slightly as he stood, waiting for whatever it was that was going to happen. Even Sonic was staying still in the same position, waiting patiently just like everyone else. Tails, who stood beside Sonic and was too short to be able to stand with his arms comfortably draped over his chair, was the only deviant, keeping his arms in front of only himself.

"Oh Chaos," the Queen intoned from the head of the table. "Thank you for a wonderful year. Plenty has rained down upon our people and us. Philanthropic efforts have grown thanks to the good people's charity and their influence has spread farther than ever before. The kingdom is thriving, recovering from its era of terror as we rebuild our homes and our families, and we are grateful for it. But above all, we are grateful that everyone in this family has come home safely and happily this year. May you continue to guide our lives down such fruitful paths and protect us from harm and fear. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," came the collective murmur, before Sonic suddenly zipped into his seat before anyone else could so much as blink.

"So, mind passing the rolls, Bart'?" he asked, cocky grin back on his face and question completely ruining the tranquil yet content atmosphere.

But even if it was more boisterous, the atmosphere his question ushered in was just as happy.

"Sonic Hedgehog, you must be the most impulsive, impatient, demanding Mobian I have ever had the displeasure of meeting," Sonia accused him.

It didn't faze him one bit. No, Shadow watched as Sonic plucked two rolls from the bread basket, setting one on his plate and hiding the other with a speed that even Shadow had trouble following – until the adults at the head of the table were preoccupied, and then Sonic threw it straight at his sister's face in slow motion.

For Sonic and Shadow, that is. Sonia could only guess where it had come from, but it wasn't that hard. "I refuse to be brought into such childish games. Act your mature age, Sonic, or I'll remove you from this table," she sniffed, but even with her nose in the air, Shadow could still see the devious promise of revenge that flickered in her amused eyes.

"Hey, Manic," Sonic said, leaning his chair back a little so he could make eye contact with his fellow triplet. "Remember when she used to be fun?"

A bread roll was promptly thrown into the back of his head quills as Tails giggled from his place beside his big blue brother.

"I agree, Sonia," Bartleby sniffed, much like Sonia had earlier, but he had no playful sparkle in his eye. He also had not seen any of the roll-throwing the Hedgehogs had done, thanks to their timing and his lofty attitude, which insisted he look down at everything and see mostly tablecloth. "I would appreciate it if you did not ruin our dinner, Sonic."

"Same goes for you, Bartle-bu-" Sonic hurriedly shoved a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth before he could finish that particular gem.

It was amazing, Shadow reflected as raucous calls to "Hey, pass the butter," "Let's get some ham down here," and "There're some starvin' kids on this side of the table, hurry it up!" (who said that last one was easy to guess) echoed around the lavishly-decorated room above the standard murmur that accompanied all communal meals.

"Here you go, son. Help yourself," came the friendly direction from his right as Uncle Chuck passed Shadow the sweet potatoes. Shadow couldn't help but wonder why the robot had showed up to the meal, as robots didn't need food or drink, as shown by Chuck's empty plate. Then again, he didn't technically need food either, but he was here. His case was different, however; common courtesy demanded that he show up at meals and besides, he was quite sure the Hedgehog family would 'freak' and pester him if he didn't eat anything, and he didn't feel like trying to explain his genetic anomalies to them.

He accepted the bowl with a nod and dished himself some of the orange vegetable before passing it on to Sonia, who sat to his left.

"Thank you, Shadow. But as I was saying, it was a fairly uneventful year. We've fixed up most of the aristocrats' homes by now, or at least supplied them with the resources needed to, so they haven't had much reason to come here looking for help. Although there's this one lord, Lord Rahom, who keeps insisting that we give him more resources and inspect the damage ourselves and blah blah blah." Those last few, crass words spoke more of the polished aristocrat's irritation than her entire sentence.

"Sonia, Lord Rahom is simply trying to be difficult so as to stay comfortably in your court," Bartleby sniffed. "Under the illustrious rule of your mother, of course no one has much reason to come here with complaints." The food in Shadow's mouth turned slightly sour as the pompous mink continued his contribution to the conversation.

He had once thought that the last person on the planet that he would ever want to be close friends with was Sonic T. Hedgehog.

He now knew it to be one Bartleby Montclaire, and any and all other arrogant, haughty, self-absorbed peacocks. If he had thought Sonic's cocky attitude was hard to put up with, well, then Bartleby's spoiled and assuming attitude was impossible.

_The Mobius Sun had risen that morning to a room full of busy Hedgehogs. Aleena, who always insisted that all the servants and servers of the palace take at least Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, Bernadette, and Sonia directed the boys in the art of decorating, standing and critiquing their work._

"_Mmm, no," Sonia decided decisively. "The wreath needs to go on the other banister."_

_With shared looks of exasperation and fatigue between the male triplets, Manic, Sonic and Shadow picked the gargantuan circle of fragrant greenery, red ribbons, bright berries and prickly pinecones back up and began walking across the ballroom in a haphazard fashion, maneuvering around the other decorators carefully. Sonic zipped up the steps to grab the top of the wreath and hoist it up, securing it up there while a laborious Manic and mildly irritated Shadow secured the bottom to the wall. Standing back, the two Hedgehogs on the lower level looked to Sonia for a verdict. _And it had better be positive_, Shadow thought, his red eyes narrowed. Even Rouge wasn't this fussy when they decorated their apartments for Christmas._

_Manic seemed to agree with him. "Dude, I swear if she tells us to move it one more time," Manic hissed partly to Shadow, partly to himself, "I will-"_

"_Well, actually," Sonia called, unknowingly interrupting her brother, "I think it looked best in that first spot we had it."_

_Before the steaming duo could do anything, a blue blur raced down the curling steps and past them, the wind it left behind strong enough to make even Shadow loose his balance._

"_Then," Sonic said heatedly, "you can do it yourself!"_

_And he picked her up and set her down right between Manic and Shadow and in front of the wreath._

_Sonia shrugged. "Okay."_

_All three boys felt their jaws drop as she easily picked it up and began carrying it like a trophy down the length of the ballroom, polite, 'excuse me's ringing in their ears._

"_And she didn't do that at the beginning because…?" Manic finally said, mouth still hanging open._

_Sonic snorted. "Aw, you know her. Prolly worried about getting pine needles in her hair or staining her dress."_

"_Boys!"_

_All three turned towards Berandette, whose husband was leaving with a box of mismatched ornaments._

"_Help Jules remove all these ornaments, please."_

_They looked at each other before nodding and walking over. "Can't go wrong with that," Sonic said brightly, upset mood forgotten._

"_But I might rip my vest!" Manic cried in a high-pitched voice, raising his hands to his face._

_Shadow raised his eyeridges while Sonic laughed at Manic's faithful imitation._

"_Seriously," Manic grumbled. "She's getting worse about it all, Sonic. Just last week, she took me out to the mall" – he shuddered – "and tried to get me into a tux. A TUX!"_

"_And here you are, not in it," Sonic observed._

"_Explosives can do wonders," Manic admitted, and Shadow sent him an intrigued stare as they picked up their boxes, but Manic paid more attention to the Look Sonic was giving him. "Nobody got hurt and there wasn't any property damage, I swear! Well, maybe a little property damage…but nothing that can't be replaced!"_

"_Meh," Sonic replied with a grunt. "I don't blame you. I'd probably do the same thing, only I'd use a spindash to 'test' it." Noticing that Shadow had remained silent throughout the whole conversation, Sonic tried to drag him in, too. "And Shadow…well, he doesn't even need a tux. Already has that black color and the white triangle in the front. That fluffy chest fur's gotta beat a silk blouse with the ladies any day."_

_Both Hedgehogs giggled as Shadow opened his mouth to deliver a scathing comment to the blue speedster, cheeks tinged a little pink in embarrassment and anger, when a gigantic noise filled the room, making him drop his cargo and reflexively cover his ears. But even then, he could still hear the wail of an electric guitar (1) forcing its way down his ear canal and into his brain._

_The brothers merely stood still and cocked their heads, ears perked up and interested expressions on their faces._

"_Hmm. Sounds like Knuckles is here," Sonic commented._

"_It does, doesn't it?" Manic agreed. "Well? Let's go!"_

_Meanwhile, Shadow could only do his best impression of a rock statue yet._

_Knuckles?_

_He easily caught up with the 'Nics, who were going at a speed Manic could handle. "Shadow!" Sonic cried at seeing his archrival run up beside them with a very familiar scowl._

"_Sonic."_

_Manic watched curiously as Sonic's mouth suddenly became an apologetic line at the warning note in Shadow's voice._

"_Oops…heh."_

"_What?" the green hedgehog wondered._

"_Well, I kind of told Shadow I'd try to keep him informed about what's going on, but I didn't really tell him about Knuckles and his relationship with Sonia."_

_Manic laughed at the almost comical look of shock that slipped out from Shadow's mask. "Just know that if he has a bouquet of flowers, it's for our sister," he teased, exhilarated from all the running he was doing._

_The what Shadow realized was a doorbell now screamed at them again, and with an exchange of nods, Sonic grabbed Manic's arm and poured on the speed, racing to the humongous front doors of the palace._

_And, as predicted, there stood Knuckles, a trilby hat on his head and the petals from a bouquet of exotic flowers found only on Angel Island sticking out from their hiding place behind his back._

"_K-Man!" Manic cried, leaping forward and giving the Guardian his traditional rough punch on the shoulder. "What's happenin', dude?"_

"_Hey, Manic," Knuckles replied, a small but genuine smile on his face that was his version of the face-splitting grin Sonic wore._

"_Long time no see, Knux. Sonia should be just around a few corners." Sonic turned towards Shadow, obviously expecting a greeting from him as well._

_Shadow sighed with a bit of resignation as he crossed his arms. "Hello, Knuckles."_

"_Shadow," Knuckles replied, nodding distractedly towards the black hedgehog, but then his brain kick started and came out of its worried thoughts on how the echidna would greet the hedgehogette. "SHADOW!"_

"_That was my reaction to seeing you here, too," Shadow admitted, ignoring the muffled laughs of his blue and green doppelgangers._

"_Well, I'm…"_

"_Courting our sister and going to ask for her hand when you both are of age?" Manic finished for him. All the Hedgehogs found amusement in the strangled sound Knuckles made and his rapidly reddening complexion. Even his fur was changing colors. "Good, dude, good."_

"_We're rootin' for you, man," Sonic informed him with an easy grin and a second thump on his arm. "Try not to mess up; here she comes now."_

_Knuckles became an even deeper red as the Hedgehog boys and Shadow took their quick leave and Sonia Hedgehog in an elegant magenta evening gown that had a halter top and left her shoulders and arms completely bare and a slit on one side of the skirt that let a fair amount of strong leg show, walked into the room._

"_Knuckles!" she cried, throwing her arms around him and giving him a vice-like hug that rivaled the ones Amy always gave Sonic._

_And so Knuckles became recruited and joined the troupe in their quest to put up all the decorations and remove the unwanted ones._

_Bartleby's entrance had, of course, been very, very different._

_A knock on the ballroom door made everyone look up at what appeared to be a butler. He was well-dressed and held a book under his arm._

_Queen Aleena stepped forward to meet him. "Hello," she greeted kindly._

"_Eh-hem," the unknown Mobian cleared his throat gently. "Monsieur Bartleby Montclaire has arrived and requests hospitality in the Queen's court."_

"_Of course. Show him in," Aleena replied. "Would you like a guide? I understand that many get confused in this palace's hallways."_

_Beside Shadow, Sonic and Manic gave identical, "Bars," and stuck their tongues out, disgusted expressions on their faces._

"_Who is he?" Shadow asked._

"_Sonia's other suitor," Sonic answered, not even trying to keep the distaste out of his voice. "And that's all I'm going to say."_

_Manic nodded in agreement. "Mom's got better ears than a wolf."_

_That spoke volumes to Shadow, and he looked around the room to view the reactions of the other members of the Hedgehog Clan. Aleena was, of course, acting the way she always did, generously and kindly, giving nothing away, but Bernadette's face had frozen into the definition of politeness. Jules made a face that…_

_Shadow looked at Sonic and then back at Jules. Jules was a darker shade of blue and had longer quills, as well as brown eyes, but other than that, they were the spitting images of each other._

_And Uncle Chuck had gone from being the closest thing to organic that a robot could achieve to the emotionless piece of metal that countless robots Shadow had seen in his GUN career had been._

_Lastly, Knuckles's face was impossible to read because it was hidden behind the box of festive candles that he was carrying. But maybe that was a good thing, seeing as how this mink was a competitor._

_And Shadow knew how Knuckles handled competitors: with a closed, spiky, _painful_ fist._

_Turning his attention to the mink that had just stepped through the doorway, Shadow immediately felt his mask, which had slipped a little in the midst of the Hedgehogs, snap back in full force. The expensive leather shoes on his feet were obviously tailored to fit them exactly, with golden buckles on the top for good measure. Shiny tights stretched up to the top of his calves where his green trousers ended with gold-colored trimming, what was a very aristocratic fashion. His burgundy jacket with long tails and a large color covered most of his shirt, but it was easy to tell that it was expensive and made of white silk. Gold buttons kept his jacket closed, and a white wave that represented his estate stood out on the right side, right under the collar. There was a wide sash tied tightly around his thin waist and large white gloves covered his hands, going almost all the way to his elbows. Surprisingly, he kept his curled blonde hair long, letting it stay open and fall beyond his shoulders unlike most male and even female nobles, who preferred to wear ornaments and decorations in their extravagant hair arrangements or cut their hair to legendarily short lengths._

"_Good morning, your Majesty," his posh voice declared to the assembly._

_Sonic actually winced once it hit his ears. Manic shuddered, the accent making him think of tea and éclairs and scones, as well as frilly tablecloths and expensive furniture._

_Shadow just watched silently, almost amazed at the effect the mink had on the Hedgehog Clan. He hadn't really noticed the glow, the 'Christmas glow' as he had dubbed it, amid all the bustling activity and cheery, flickering lights before, but now the room seemed dull in comparison to what it had been. As Bartleby Montclaire clapped his hands and ordered his servants to complete the decorations for the Hedgehogs and then began the pleasantries and chitchats of good company, Shadow could only witness the Hedgehogs become the royal nobility that their titles said they were, stand by as Sonic developed a scowl and posture identical to Shadow's on a bad day, grit his teeth each time Bartleby said something to him in that condescending, smug, conceited manner, and watch the room continue to fade._

So yes, Bartleby and all like him were now one of the Top Ten Reasons he should NOT have helped Sonic stop Eggman's plans of destruction.

Knuckles the Echidna, who calmly took the dish Bartleby handed him, stayed silent in the conversation as Sonia and Bartleby described what had been happening in the court, Manic interjecting his own perspective at some points (although usually to add humorous comments that annoyed Bartleby to no end). His hat was off since he was in the presence of ladies, but his knowledge of court manners and politics pretty much ended there, meaning he had nothing to say about the topic. Shadow couldn't help but agree with Sonic's analysis that they were an "odd couple." Sonia came from Bartleby's world of refinement and Knuckles was used to roughing it out in the woods, on his island or with Sonic and Tails on one adventure or another. But he also couldn't help but "root for" them as well, because by now, Shadow wanted to give Bartleby a punch that would break his jaw and effectively silence him.

The dish of potatoes made its way over to Manic, who gave himself an extra large helping that went on his plate with an obnoxious 'plop!' that made Bartleby twitch. The two earrings he had jingled when his ears perked up and an innocent look crossed his face at the mink's criticism.

"Manic, can you please try to act civilized," he said.

"Hey, dude," Manic replied, his…well, whatever UNcultured accent he had really showing through as he spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "Can't ignore my raising."

"Clearly," the mink sniffed. "You certainly weren't born or bred that way." He sent a look at Sonia, letting her know that it was a compliment to her.

"Here you go, Sonic," Tails said as he handed the oversized bowl to his surrogate older brother.

"Thanks, lil bro," the blue hedgehog replied with a wink and a nod to his empty plate. "I've been practically starving here."

"Sonic," an exasperated female voice said, "you just ate half of the cranberry sauce, a good portion of bean casserole, a large helping of corn, two dinner rolls and several large pieces of ham. You are far from starving."

"I'm a runner, Sal," he replied easily as he tried to fit as much sweet potato mush as he could on the serving spoon and slap it on his plate with an even louder plop than Manic. "We use up a lot of energy, right Shadow?"

Shadow glanced up from his plate at them. "Hmph," he responded noncommittally.

"He doesn't have half of what you've already eaten on his plate," Sally pointed out. "But I must admit, you have developed a nice runner's physique."

Shadow watched with interest as Sonic's cheeks began to take on a slight tint of pink.

"You look almost nothing like that round little ball of quills I used to know," she continued with a small smile.

"Well, I seem to remember you in pigtails, Sal," the flustered Hedgehog retorted. "Whatever happened to those cute little things?"

"Oh, I decided to grow up," the squirrel sighed, putting a hand on her large bangs. "Something you still have yet to do."

"Feh," Sonic snorted. "Growing up is for old people," he declared, waving his fork above his head. "If you're waiting for me to do that, then you're gonna be waiting for half a century, Sal."

"Sonic Hedgehog, I am convinced that if I were to ever wait for you to grow up, I would be waiting until the end of time, not just fifty years."

"And would you have it any other way?" Sonic smiled at her.

"…No…"

"Hey, guys, get a room!" Manic called, evoking raucous laughter and whistles from the children/young adult's side of the table as well as light sniggering from the usually silent Shadow. (Excluding Bartleby, of course. And Tails. He was blushing deeply at his brother's antics with "Aunt Sally" and kept his eyes firmly fastened on his plate while his tails wrung together as though he was about to fly away from his spot at the dinner table.)

"Yeesh, and I thought Sonia was bad," Manic added in a stage-mutter that allowed everyone on their side of the table to hear his words clearly.

And now it was Sonia's turn to get red in the face while her brothers, biological and adopted, Sally, and Shadow laughed/smirked at her expense and her two suitors sent everyone dirty looks and turned slightly pink as well.

Meanwhile, the casserole bowl was passed on to Sally's father, Maximillian Acorn, King of the Great Forest and other outer, rural reaches of Mobius that weren't dominated by humans, member of the "adult side" of the table, as the kids had termed it, and yet another surprise for Shadow.

_Shadow was actually thankful to hear the wailing doorbell, which had just cut Bartleby off. His first thought was to kneel down and thank Chaos._

_His second thought was, _'Who on Mobius could that be?'_ and his gaze instantly swiveled over to Sonic._

_Or it would have, but the spot beside Manic was empty and instead Manic grinned at him, showing off a full-blown set of teeth. "Hey, Shads, let's go. You've got to meet Sonic's girlfriend!"_

_The moment the green Hedgehog said 'girlfriend,' Shadow's mind was instantly filled with images of pink and red, mallets, wide smiles, and angry turquoise eyes. His ears heard squealing and he could already feel himself being throttled by the infatuated, rabid fangirl who would once again mistake him for Sonic._

_Lost in these terrors, Shadow didn't even protest as Manic grabbed his arm and then began dragging him back to the front doors where she was waiting._

_But when they arrived at the main foyer, Shadow found instead a squirrel with a very short tail, blue boots, a blue vest, a small computer in her hand, and auburn hair styled in a way similar to Sonia's._

_She was not pink._

_She was not squealing._

_She did not have a hammer._

_She was definitely not a hedgehog._

_And she was talking to Sonic like a very civilized being._

"_Sonic, you're getting slower," she said, presenting him with the electrical device. "That took you three and a half seconds."_

"_Three point five four nine seconds," the little computer now in Sonic's hands intoned in a pleasant female voice._

"_Hey, I had to run from the ballroom this year, guys, not the parlor!" Sonic argued back._

"_Then you have gotten faster. The distance difference is approximately seven hundred and fifty two feet."_

"_Of course," Sonic said with a grin, handing the digital unit back to the squirrel. The duo stood there for a moment before Sonic suddenly grabbed her into a hug with a move too fast for even Shadow to track. "It's good to see you again, Sal."_

"_I missed you, Sonic," 'Sal' said as she rested her chin on his non-spiky shoulder._

_The moment was completely ruined, however, when Sonic caught sight of his sibling giving him a thumb-up and a wink and Shadow staring at him with his arms crossed, making him jump back out of the hug with his cheeks burning._

"_Hey, Nicole," he greeted the computer._

"_Yo, Sonic, my main hedgehog," Nicole's digital voice enunciated. "What up?"_

_The squirrel sighed. "I hate it when she does that."_

"_Hey, Sal," Sonic said, turning her around to face the other Hedgehogs. "I want you to meet someone."_

"_Hello, Manic," Sally greeted him with a smile, doing some kind of funky handshake with him._

"_Heya, princess," he said easily. When he and Sonic called Sonia 'princess,' it was generally an insult, Shadow had noted, but the title seemed to fit this mature girl, acting more as a nickname than anything else._

"_And hello…?" Sally left the sentence hanging, holding out her hand to the black hedgehog._

"_Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog." He shook the offered hand, and was surprised to feel hardened skin and muscle that returned his firm grip._

"_I'm Sally Acorn. Pleased to meet you." There was no curtsy, only a nod that Shadow returned. "I didn't know Sonic had two brothers?"_

_Shadow just looked at her, surprised. Not at the idea that he and Sonic were brothers; he had been mistaken for Sonic enough times and been asked that question before. But he had always thrown a Chaos Spear at the offending interrogator (unless it was his boss) and/or felt infuriated with the hugger (Miss Amy Rose) to the point where he wanted to snap his inhibitor rings off and unleash a Chaos Blast on the spot._

"_Shadow's the newest member of our troupe," Sonic hurried to explain. "We met back on the other side of Mobius and became archrivals…"_

_But when Sally assumed the 'brother' relationship between him and Sonic, all he felt was annoyance, and almost resignation at forever being labeled the famous Sonic the Hedgehog's sibling._

_Hmph._

_Why would that be?_

_But he didn't have time to ponder the question because that was when King Maximillian Acorn stepped through the doorway, immediately fixed Shadow with a warning look, then spotted Manic and done the same. He looked startled before then turning his harsh gaze on Sonic, who was standing the closest to Sally._

_Sonia, who had finally arrived with the rest of the Hedgehogs, Knuckles, and Bartleby and was now standing on Shadow's side opposite Manic, leaned over towards his ear. "Don't hold it against him if he mistakes you for Sonic," she whispered._

"_Dude's completely colorblind," Manic explained softly while Maximillian towered over Sonic in his traditional greeting with Sally protesting about how Sonic had always behaved well and deserved their trust. "He was trapped in the Void for too long, and when he came out, well…"_

"_He's lucky they could restore his eyesight at all," Sonia finished. "His limbs were an easy matter, but there's only so much modern-day technology can do."_

"_Eh, my daughter's right," the king suddenly laughed, slapping his possible future son-in-law on the shoulder. "I just want to keep you on your toes." His eyes suddenly took on that 'I'm watching you' look again before he started laughing, and Sonic joined in._

"_And your quill style looks even more similar to his than mine does," Manic added._

_Shadow nodded, acknowledging them, before stepping forward to be introduced by Sonic once more._

Now he knew why the idea of being mistaken for another Hedgehog sibling didn't bother him as much. As he ate his meal and watched the sweet potato bowl finish its travels from Jules to Bernadette to Aleena, back to Chuck and then in the middle of the table, he listened in on the various conversations. Bartleby was recounting some grand ball event to Knuckles, who was grinding his teeth, while Sally and Sonia discussed the diplomatic relations between the Great Forest and Mobotropolis, whatever those places were. Sonic was laughing hard as he recounted a familiar tale (that was just as absurd to him as it had been the first time he heard it) about Camelot, a 'Knight of the Wind,' and a sword called 'Caliburn.'

"But none of us believed him," Tails chimed in. "Amy even pulled out her hammer and began chasing Sonic with it!"

Sonic winced and rubbed a certain spot on his head. "You believe me, though, right bro'?"

"It's ridiculous!" Tails cried.

"I dunno, lil bro'," Manic replied, grinning. "If Sonic and I can get trapped in a videogame, then hey, why not a book?"

Tails stared at him wide-eyed, and Knuckles, who had listened in a little, turned to face them. "You were trapped in a videogame?" the echidna asked in disbelief.

"Not fun," Manic answered. "Not fun at all, especially when 'Butnik showed up…"

On the other side of Mobius, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog were famous rivals who constantly needled each other, called each other 'Faker,' and insisted that each was better than the other. They vociferously denied any type of connection, or even random similarity.

But archrivals had no place in this family event. Here, people wanted to connect with each other and share their experiences. Sonic was reaching out to Shadow, trying to drag him into the table conversations, instead of pushing him below his feet. He was acting the way he did towards his siblings.

Of course, they weren't siblings. He didn't care what the world said, they were not brothers. But the competition between them had died down until it was almost nonexistent, making it impossible for him to call them rivals, too. Allies? No. You did not invite your ally to your family's closed holiday party.

Friends?

Shadow silently snorted at the thought. Sonic was annoying, mischievous, cocky, and optimistic. Why would he be friends with the moron?

On the other side of the world, he probably would have been able to leave it at that.

But here, with Sonic sending him a friendly wink across the table and laughing while Chuck offered him some more water and Bernadette and Jules smiled at him in the bright room, it was impossible for him to ignore the fact that he was at least standing on the same friendly ground as Sonic and the rest of the Hedgehog Clan.

And he had to wonder if things be the same when they left.

**1 – Kudos to you if you can figure out what sound I am talking about :) Hint? Whenever you hear it, there's a picture/logo that shows up and changes the scene.**

**Phew *pants* that was LONG! Over 5,000 words!**

**Yeah, originally, I was going to do the entire dinner scene here, but once I saw how large it was, I decided to split it up. So it'll be finished in the next chapter.**

**Hope y'all like it! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Bah! Sorry for the delay. I had to run some errands, you know, Christmas falling action, back to school homework and test studying, among other stuff.**

**Cough*i.*Cough**

**Not to mention the fact that it is once again pretty long. *does faceplant onto the floor* I was planning on putting the rest of the dinner conversations in this chapter since I did say that the dinner scene would be finished with this chapter, but once again, they're turning out longer than I expected. So I'll be splitting each conversation up.**

**And they're kind of hard for me to write. I stink at writing explanations and storytelling inside stories. Blegh.**

**Anyway, it's here now! Thank WinterMuffin for this update **

**And don't expect another one until next Sunday. Sorry in advance, everyone.**

**Storm337 – Yes. Yes, they will. And yes, Bartleby definitely will be once he hears about it, as we get to see in this chapter. ;)**

**snoe mahns cumn 4 u – Eh, sorry. I did mean to skip, but I meant for the italicized parts to be flashbacks. Thanks for telling me, and I'll say so next time :)**

**Wintermuffin –I will most definitely be updating; I really want to get this story done before moving on to my other stories. Sorry for the long wait (runs away from a ticked off Chaos). As for your earlier comment? Yeah, SU is really oriented towards little kids who like fantasy. REALLY little kids whose parents don't mind them shouting…whatever catch phrases there were. "IT'S JUICE TIME!" *brrrrrrrrrr***

**xxKuroTsukiNekoxx – Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.**

**Chapter 6: Conversations**

"Aw, come on, Shads."

Unacceptable. The black and red hedgehog just couldn't believe it. It was terrible.

It had been bad enough that Sonic called him that.

Now _Manic_ was doing it, too.

'Shads' sent the green Hedgehog (who not only sounded like his blue brother but also looked eerily identical to him at the moment, wearing the same grin and devious expression the other currently had on) a red-eyed glare. It wasn't his most impressive, bound as he was by courtesy to his amiable hosts, but it was still enough to make the GUN general start stuttering.

At least, he thought that was the glare he used. Manic, however, followed Sonic's unperturbed example, his grin not even faltering.

"Look, we told stories," Sonic gestured to himself, Tails, and Knuckles, when Shadow's lips remained clamped shut. "Sally regaled us with tales of the Great Forest, Sonia and Bartleby told us about what's been going on over here, and Manic even dredged up an old, washed-out adventure to share with us."

"Hey!" Manic cried indignantly. "What was I supposed to do, be Sonia and Bart's echo? They pretty much already said everything there was to say about Mobotropolis!"

"What about your own personal endeavors?"

"Manic!" Sonia snapped.

"hey, chill, sis'. There's nothing to say," he replied, an innocent look on his face while Sonia retained her suspicious one.

"Eh, I guess," Sonic allowed, but with a glance at his brother that said 'you are telling me everything LATER!'. "But seriously, dude" – this was directed at Shadow, who was still glaring – "it's your turn. So, spill-"

"_AAHH!"_

The moment the word left Sonic's lips, the entire table turned to look at Uncle Chuck, whose robotic form was sitting frozen, absolutely drenched in icy cold water.

"No, no, I've got it," he said, waving everyone's efforts off as he leaned back and held out his arms, allowing the water to run down the metal plates and drip onto the floor.

"You sure, Unc'?" Sonic asked, still standing with a slight frown.

"Of course, Sonny," he replied. He stepped away from the table and began dabbing at the water with his napkin, careful not to push any water into the circuits beneath his metal surface.

"Just gettin' old like the rest of us, huh, Chuck?" Jules asked with amusement in his tone. But there was still some concern laced in it, and it told Shadow that the Hedgehog family was more worried than they let on.

"Hah!" Chuck snorted, sharply waving his arms and sending water droplets across the table and into his organic brother's face.

"Here, Uncle Chuck, use my napkin," Sonia offered.

Acting as a bridge, Shadow took the lacy piece of silk and handed it to the genial robot, who accepted it gratefully and began to dry off his ankles and shoes before straightening up. "Phew, than-"

Half the table gasped at the sharp crackles coming from Chuck's direction, and Shadow could suddenly see why they were so worried. He had automatically assumed that the robot's highly advanced AI meant it had a highly advanced structure as well, but…

Observing the crude nails keeping the metal together and the gaps that allowed his limbs to move and left them vulnerable at the same time, Shadow could only conclude that 'Uncle Chuck' was a very old model. Maybe not in terms of years, but technology developed quickly, and so even just a few years could make a robot out-of-date. But at the same time, if Chuck wasn't even waterproof…

"Ah, I just need to make a quick stop down at my lab," Chuck reassured everyone. "Shadow, would you mind coming with me? I might not be able to reach everything."

_This is my way out_, Shadow realized. _That sly, old…_Normally, the self-assured, supportive wink the red-eyed robot sent him would frustrate him beyond measure (partly because it usually came from a hedgehog who thought he was better than him), but at this point he would do almost anything to escape the table's storytellers, who had all been gazing him expectantly like kindergarteners at story time.

Nodding, he stood up, but not before he shot a smirk in the blue speedster's face, which seemed to look strangely disappointed. Not upset or irritated with his prey's escape, just unhappy like a kid who didn't get his favorite food for dinner that night.

But he didn't bother dwelling on it, instead following the slightly fizzing robot out of the room and down the dark corridors as conversations sprang up and the former chatter filled the air again behind them.

"I figured you could use some help getting out of there," a robotic voice chuckled once they were out of earshot. "I know my nephews can be persistent."

Shadow snorted, rubbing his shoulder slightly where Sonic had kicked him once. _That_ was an understatement if he ever heard one. He would never admit it, but…it was always the first part of his body to ache when he was in a fight, and the longest one to heal afterwards. And the next time Shadow was ordered to stall the hedgehog from reaching the deadly weapon that was going to wipe out the population and half the planet to boot so that GUN could observe and test the device? He was calling in sick and informing them that someone else could keep a bristling, desperate supersonic hedgehog that fought robots for a living at bay.

"Yes, you're right," Chuck sighed. "Mule-headed. I remember that one time when Sonic was four and wanted to go around running them loops all over Green Hill. Of course, he couldn't make any sonic booms back then, and he was a little roun – ah, here we are." The old robot stepped forward and paused a moment before punching some numbers into the dial beside the door, which slid open.

It was a lab just like any other – meaning it was big and full of junk. An oval-shaped screen was attached to where the wall met the ceiling on the left and was tilted down some. Under it stood counters with blueprints and stacks of metal beside them, along with some empty spots that served as work surfaces. In the center stood a table that Chuck briskly walked toward, still telling his story of a young Sonic, a few broken bones and a lot of concussions.

Lost in his observations, Shadow didn't realize the robotic hedgehog had finished his repairs – _without_ his help, for the record – until he hopped off the table.

"But that was before I was like this," he concluded his tale, a chuckle in his words to ward off some of the sadness in his tone.

Shadow raised an eyeridge when Chuck waved his arms at himself. "'Like this?'"

"Roboticized."

"…Ro-bot-icized," Shadow repeated the unfamiliar word.

Chuck gave him a quizzical look.

"I've never heard the term before," Shadow replied definitively.

"Well, I suppose that's good. Means Robotnik – Egghead, you call him now? – hasn't been using it." Strolling over to the big screen and the computer in front of it, Chuck punched in some numbers. "The roboticizer was Robotnik's most powerful weapon. He used it to turn regular Mobians into robotic slaves that would work for his will, which we call Robians." Shadow watched impassively as some statistics showed up on the left side of the screen and a large cylindrical container took up the right.

Large enough to hold a Mobian, Shadow saw, as a simulation played out and a Mobian dog walked inside the bars. Two sheets of metal came down, encasing him completely and blocking him from view, while a green light flashed from inside.

The metal parted and the cage opened, allowing the now metallic dog to walk back out, unrestrained and with glowing red eyes.

But it was the roboticized hedgehog in front of him who was still staring up at the screen that really made him understand the loss.

"So you thought the others' title for me was just a title?"

A sparkle of humor was in Chuck's eye; what, did this whole family get kicks from keeping secrets? "Yes," Shadow said.

Apparently they did, if Chuck's small laugh was any indication. "No, I really am Jules' big brother."

"So Jules and Bernadette are his biological parents?" Shadow, who had never gotten his explanation, asked.

If Chuck hadn't been made out of metal and wires, he would have choked at the idea. "No, no, no! Aleena is his biological mother. Jules and I are her brothers and Bernadette is Jules's wife." Sensing Shadow's confusion, he added, "For Sonic's protection, he lived with Jules and Bernadette when he was a child."

Shadow nodded and walked up to stand beside Chuck with crossed arms, gazing up at the screen as he brought the discussion back to the original topic. "You know, I've never seen or heard of Eggman using this."

"And let's hope he never does in the future," Chuck added vehemently, his amused mood gone.

"But if he has it, why wouldn't he use it?" Shadow argued, his mind immediately returning to 'GUN mode' and 'DANGER! PROTECT!' "Lately, his inventions have been fairly lame."

"Oh?"

"His latest plot to take over the world involved a machine called the 'Eggcellent Egger' which was meant to support him in his face offs with Sonic, or 'egg him on,' as Sonic put it. And then it exploded in the middle of the fight."

It was the first time he had heard Chuck laugh outright and without any reservations. "Julian never was a very good inventor." Seeing Shadow eyeing him oddly, he amended, "I mean Ivo."

"Why did you say Julian?" Shadow questioned.

"It is a name he went under once many years ago."

_Note to self: Read a history textbook when you get back to GUN, and when they want you to go fight Sonic on one of his insane missions that he ALWAYS SUCCEEDS IN, tell them you are still reading it_, he resolved.

_Or get the story here and use it as an excuse for why you couldn't make small talk._

Uncle Chuck could see the lightbulb go off in Shadow's mind, and then his auditory processors heard a word that sounded rusty and unused.

"Thank-you," Shadow began, "for getting me away from the table."

"It was no problem, Shadow. I wasn't really speaking much with the other adults anyway and I sure wasn't eating." He rubbed the spot where his stomach would be if he were still organic.

"I dislike telling stories," Shadow continued, "but I am very interested in yours."

Chuck sent him a knowing smile. "And interested in not returning to the table, eh?"

"That, too," Shadow admitted, glad that Chuck didn't seem to mind. "But I was planning on grabbing a history book later on. There seem to be a number of gaps in my knowledge of recent history."

"A history book. Bah!" Chuck ejaculated. "They're all bound to be modified and changed; we don't have a clean copy left that escaped Robotnik's ravages. Sit down, Shadow, and you'll get the story first hand," he invited, settling down himself on a countertop while Shadow took the invitation to sit on the table and rested his hoverskates on the bench.

"Ivo Robotnik was always a power-hungry, idiotic Overlander – do you call them humans? – and he's shown it since day one, seventeen years ago. He designed one type of robot, the SWATbot, probably the only robot he ever could design" – here Chuck snorted – "and built factories across Mobius to manufacture it. By the time the Queen had given birth to the triplets, he had five hundred thousand, four hundred and eighty-two SWATbots."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"I found that out after some hacking, and these circuits do not forget things. But point of the matter is, he used his army to take over Mobotropolis and the surrounding kingdom, turning it into a metallic garbage heap he called Robotropolis."

"Wouldn't the inhabitants have rebelled?"

"We did," Chuck replied. "But the royal family that people always turned to for leadership had disappeared, and many were caught by Robotnik's SWATbots."

Shadow frowned at Chuck, having a hard time imagining him as a member of the fleeing royal family. "Why did you run?"

"Robotnik put a price on our heads. If we had stayed, we would have been roboticized and then we really wouldn't have been able to reclaim our city. So Jules, Bernadette, and I escaped to some of the woods on the edge of the city and settled down as rustic pioneers" – a picture that fit Chuck much better in Shadow's opinion – "and Aleena sought refuge elsewhere. We're not entirely sure where she went."

"And this is the part where Sonic was sent to Jules and Bernadette to protect him?" Shadow connected the dots.

"We figured that Robotnik wouldn't give a passing glance to two blue hedgehogs who had a blue hoglet," Chuck affirmed. "But Manic and Sonia were different stories since they're the only green and pink hedgehogs we know. They were sent off to live with different families. Sonia lived with the aristocrats, which Robotnik protected since they were his source of money and resources, and Manic was stolen and grew up among thieves, who slipped under Robotnik's radar.

"But returning to the first coup's events, many people tried to flee or fight back as you said, but they were caught and once you were caught, you were roboticized and joined Robotnik's army. Some of the rebels managed to escape and went underground, forming the Resistance. I was part of it, and when Sonny's house burned down and we thought Jules and Bernadette were dead, he came to me and joined it as well as soon as he was old enough, even before he was technically allowed to."

Shadow found himself leaning forward, interested. "So how did the Resistance get rid of Ivo?" Maybe this was the key to getting rid of Eggman, too…?

"With a lot of help from the Sonic Underground. When Sonic, Manic, and Sonia found each other, they swore to join the Resistance, fight Robotnik, and find their mother. As you can see, they succeeded, turning Robotropolis back into the Mobotropolis you see today." He gestured upwards, taking in the palace and its city as a whole.

So that was what Sonia meant when she was talking about the city's 'repairs,' Shadow realized. "How long ago was this?"

"They kicked Robotnik out of his main base of operations nine years ago. I was so proud; I could hardly believe it. We all thought that was the end, and that we would never hear from Robotnik again." Chuck sighed. "But we forgot that he still had strongholds and armies elsewhere.

"At the time, I had agreed to go and work under King Maximillian Acorn, the one sitting at our dinner table right now. I was supposed to be a sign of goodwill, a scientific gift that would strengthen the alliance between him and Queen Aleena. We thought I might even be able to convince him to help support us in the war by giving us resources.

"But then Julian Kintobor arrived on the scene." The Robian lowered his head.

There was a silence, until, "Chuck?" Shadow prodded. He did his best to cut back on the rough, naturally dark edge his voice had, but he had very little practice trying to be gentle. Few people tried to tell him personal stories, and the few that did found empty air the next time they looked at him.

The slight smile on the Robian's face told Shadow he could hear and appreciate the effort, even if guilt overtook the expression a moment later. "Yes, Shadow, it was Ivo Robotnik. I should have recognized him, I should have…He told the King that he was a sibling to Ivo Robotnik, but that he wanted to do good to even out his brother. We both accepted it, and he rose in our ranks until the day of the second coup.

"That was the day I was caught, and the next morning, I along with the majority of the city's population was roboticized. Only the kids and Rosie, the nurse, escaped by following the secret passageway into the Great Forest and hiding in Knothole."

Chuck sighed again. "Robotnik controlled that area for eight years. It's only been free for the past two, and it's still in need of major remodeling."

Eight years? But the Sonic Underground (Shadow inwardly cringed at the name) had only needed two. "Why did it take so much longer to get rid of him there?"

"Well, Shadow, here in Mobotropolis the Sonic Underground may have been seven-year-olds, but they were powerful, determined, and they had an entire network backing them up. The moment he heard of Robotnik's new conquest, Sonic raced over to Knothole and joined the new Freedom Fighter ranks, and including him, they were six kids under the age of ten and one adult."

"And they still managed to defeat him? Why didn't Queen Aleena send them help?"

"She couldn't afford to; she was already missing Sonic, and she needed everyone else she could spare to restrain the Robians and reclaim the area. As for how they managed to defeat him, well…quite literally with a bang. Remember, it did take them eight years, so by the time they put Robotnik out of commission, they were around fifteen and much more capable of putting up a physical fight. But they also had good brains."

"I'm assuming most of those brains came from Sally," Shadow commented dryly, but his insult didn't have the usual biting quality about it. After all, Sonic had been one of those eight year olds to defeat the despotic dictator, too, and while that did not make the blue hedgehog any less cocky, optimistic, foolish and childish to Shadow, it did increase the amount of respect Shadow held for him.

"True," Chuck said frankly. "Tails did help a lot in the later years, but Sally generally came up with the undercover missions, taking out factories, destroying hordes of stealthbots, shutting down security and protecting the environment, that sort of thing.

"Now Shadow, you may have noticed that I am not currently worshipping Robotnik."

"I did notice," Shadow replied, refusing to ask the question Chuck clearly wanted him to.

"Believe me, I did, too, the moment it happened." A frustrated note entered Chuck's automated voice. "I don't know how to this day, but Sonic and the others found me and used a power ring – you're familiar with those? – to restore my mind. At first they could only do it temporarily, but eventually, it became permanent…somehow." Chuck seemed about to go off into scientific ponderings, but shook his head. "It doesn't matter how right now. I worked as an inside spy, and managed to come up with the plan concerning the Powerstones."

"Powerstones," Shadow repeated, a little irritated. Yet another thing he hadn't heard of.

"They were like the Chaos Emeralds," Chuck explained, correctly assuming Shadow's ignorance, "except they're not well known, there _were_ only two of them, and they didn't hold as much power. But it was enough to destroy Robotnik's Doomsday machine and all his other major tools – except for one."

"The roboticizer?" Shadow guessed. "But then I still don't understand why he wouldn't use it. Why wouldn't he do the same thing he did before?" It was not a pleasant thought. Eggman still made armies; he could still capture GUN if he wanted to instead of chasing Sonic and destroying the planet and then he could roboticize everyone, leaving the planet defenseless just as Sonic and Sally's homes had been-

Chuck shook his head. "Because it was destroyed afterwards by Sonic. Not long after Robotnik's final defeat, Sonic told Sally that he was going for a run and not to expect him back for a while. He easily slipped away from the celebrations and when he came back a day later, they were effectively terminated. Sally had to send him to Mobotropolis immediately in critical condition, he was bleeding so badly from lacerations. His internal systems were fine, but he was past the point of exhaustion and had shrapnel everywhere, outside and inside his body. I think the piece that scared me the most was the large sheet of metal that was sticking halfway into his leg, nearly puncturing his patella and femur. We weren't even sure if he would ever run again."

Shadow didn't know what to say. At first, Chuck had been telling him a historical account to pass the time and hide out away from the happily babbling Hedgehog family, but it had quickly turned into a personal account of the trials said family had been through. Shadow had been separated from someone before. He knew what it felt like to lose family, even if he would never know what it felt like to be reunited with them. He had been in plenty of life-endangering situations, and while he hadn't thought seventeen-year-old Sonic paid them much attention with his wise-cracking and banter, he couldn't help but wonder what a seven-year-old Sonic felt like when standing in front of the doctor's latest weapon specially built to incinerate him. Or Manic and Sonia for that matter. How Chuck had lost his own free will and body was something Shadow was sure he had and would never experience, but once he thought of how the uncle must have been twisted to fight for a despicable cause against his nephew to whom he had a close bond, it sickened him to his stomach.

"Did Sonic destroy the blueprints, too?" Shadow asked intently.

"Everything," Chuck nodded solemnly. "When we got to the site, everything was rubble. There was not a single part anywhere; the wires were unsalvageable, keys and buttons lay scattered and cracked all over the place, and even the metal plating was shredded. It looked like an army of spearmen followed by a tornado had stormed through, not a hedgehog."

"But Ivo could still recreate it, couldn't he?" Shadow worried, and the fact that he was doing this in front of Chuck said something about how dangerous the situation could get. He hated showing concern and vulnerability, even in front of someone as…well, like Chuck, but he couldn't seem to stop his brain from honing in on the problem and his mouth airing his thoughts. "He would just have to start from scratch-"

"No," Chuck interrupted. "I told you he was an idiot. You told me yourself he can't come up with any machine worth fighting."

"But-"

"And Robotnik didn't create the roboticizer in the first place. I did."

Shadow's blood-red eyes instantly snapped up and homed in on the robot. _"What?"_

Chuck rested his head on his hands and his elbows on his knees. "It was meant to help old people. Parts wear out. Eyes get cataracts, joints get worn down, and skin gets scars. At first, the roboticizer only targeted those worn out parts, turning people into cyborgs. But to do this, it also replaced the parts of the brain that controlled these areas. The replacement parts took away people's wills, so I trashed the entire machine."

"Then how did-?"

"Julian stole it." Chuck's head hung down even further. "He modified it to replace the entire body and brain, and with it, he controlled the lives and caused the deaths of thousands of Mobians."

Some people may have called Shadow cruel for ignoring his host's pain and pursuing the subject, but he had to make sure. "Wouldn't he remember those modifications?"

"Robotnik would have," Chuck agreed. "But Robotnik died the day Sonic trashed his roboticizer. Today Robians serve no master and a madman called Eggman who's crazier than a cuckoo bird terrorizes both Mobians and his fellow Overlanders across the globe with ridiculous plans. Sonic lost a good chunk of his health that day, but Robotnik completely lost his mind."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, the black-and-red hedgehog almost reveling in the defeat of one terrible way to dominate the world while the shiny one developed a better appreciation for the good times of the present, before Chuck abruptly slapped his legs and stood up. "Well, it's past now and sitting here moping won't change a thing about it," he declared, repeating a line Shadow was sure he had heard before. "I have probably kept you down here longer than you wanted. Off with you."

Shadow nodded and stepped out the door. "Good night, Uncle Chuck," he said, using the Robian's title for the first time.

"You too, son. Now shoo. Go enjoy the party. You have things to do upstairs and I have things to do down here."

Shadow turned away and began walking the way they had come, the door closing shut with a swish behind him.

**Thisisalinebreak**

When Shadow walked into the dining room, the entire table went silent. This was not unusual for the Ultimate Lifeform, whose glare could make a weathered GUN officer shut his trap.

But this time, it was the news he brought, not his glare or overall presence, that made people lock their attention on him.

"Uncle Chuck is fine," he said curtly to all the gazes as he sat down. "He is staying in his lab in case something happens, but everything is fixed for the most part."

The tension in the room disappeared immediately, as did the lack of talking, and Christmas flared up around Shadow again. The room turned brighter and nonstop laughter echoed from wall to wall even when Manic paused in the middle of a story for dramatic flair and the rest of the table paused with him, waiting for the punch line. The adults had by this time left the table, following Queen Aleena as she promised to show them something 'positively exquisite!' across the hallway, her eyes glowing with pride and delight even as Jules poked fun at the unnamed object and whined about it not being slimy or disgusting. As Shadow continued his now-cold meal, he was glad that they had all but forgotten about him and his adventures. Instead, the Hedgehogs were focused on pestering Sally, the military leader and brain of operations. Even as she teased them a little before giving her eager audience a story in her direct way of speech, she used logic to return their jabs and remained calm, if exasperated with the many interruptions, throughout her story. It was easy to envision her devising strategies and delivering plans in one of the rooms of GUN HQ.

Sonic…well, Shadow had since learned that there were two sides to Sonic: the one that was laughing at life as he sat beside Sally and the one that had given him a permanent mark on his shoulder over a year ago. In a situation as bad as the one Uncle Chuck had described, Shadow could practically see the enraged, fierce blue light crashing around a metal room of controls and literally bringing the shaking base down. But as long as the planet and its inhabitants were safe, Sonic remained nothing more than a mischievous teenager who ran around on adventures and loved life.

And Manic and Sonia…the same must be true for them, because they were smiling and laughing (or turning up their nose in a show of disgust, respectively) right along with their sibling when only a day ago, they had pinned him against the wall and threatened to knock him out. Although that had been more Sonia than Manic.

The pink hedgehogette caught Shadow looking at her and smiled at him, immediately setting her napkin down and taking his attention as an invitation to talk.

"So Shadow, how did you get so strong?" (Shadow wasn't sure if he had imagined the momentarily green faces of the mink and echidna at the end of the table.) "The only person who's managed to match me is Knuckles, but I had to use almost all of my strength yesterday to hold you still."

Well, that was a creative conversation starter. Shadow swallowed his food before answering with just a touch of pride, "I was designed to be able to withstand immense amounts of stress and strain."

Sonia paused with her glass raised in the air and raised a fine eyebrow. "Designed?"

Shadow in turn raised one of his ridges. "How much did Sonic tell you about me?" he asked, nodding slightly towards the blue hedgehog who was doing a silly balancing act with his silverware to the applause of his brothers.

"That you grew up on a space station called 'the ARK' and were frozen for fifty years." A sly look suddenly overtook her features and she leaned closer to him so she wouldn't be heard. "Then he told us how he was worried about keeping his title of 'the Fastest Thing Alive' and that he now sleeps with a Chaos Emerald under his pillow because of your, and I quote, 'totally epic Chaos powers.'"

Shadow made a mental note about the position of that Emerald even as he returned Sonia's smirk. He wasn't one to blackmail others (even if the Chaos Nightlight was good material), but it was nice to know that he was more than a bug to be squashed beneath his unconcerned rival's sneakers.

His smirk disappeared as he opened his mouth, however. "I am the Ultimate Lifeform, an artificial hedgehog engineered by Professor Gerald Robotnik."

The glass promptly shattered from her strong grip.

"Engineered by _**Robotnik!**_"

_Oooh_, he thought. His quills started to bristle and his posture uncharacteristically scrunched down a little as fires exploded behind the highborn girl's eyes, making them suddenly look a lot more threatening than they had a few moments ago.

…_Maybe I should have left that part out…_

**Eh, not my greatest.**

**If anyone wouldn't mind leaving a review telling me how to improve the dialogue…I am all ears. Er, eyes.**

**Happy New Year :)**


End file.
